injure

Synonym Chooser

How is the word injure distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of injure are damage, harm, hurt, impair, and mar. While all these words mean "to affect injuriously," injure implies the inflicting of anything detrimental to one's looks, comfort, health, or success.

badly injured in an accident

When might damage be a better fit than injure?

The words damage and injure are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, damage suggests injury that lowers value or impairs usefulness.

a table damaged in shipping

When is it sensible to use harm instead of injure?

Although the words harm and injure have much in common, harm often stresses the inflicting of pain, suffering, or loss.

careful not to harm the animals

When can hurt be used instead of injure?

In some situations, the words hurt and injure are roughly equivalent. However, hurt implies inflicting a wound to the body or to the feelings.

hurt by their callous remarks

When would impair be a good substitute for injure?

The words impair and injure can be used in similar contexts, but impair suggests a making less complete or efficient by deterioration or diminution.

years of smoking had impaired his health

When could mar be used to replace injure?

The meanings of mar and injure largely overlap; however, mar applies to injury that spoils perfection (as of a surface) or causes disfigurement.

the text is marred by many typos

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of injure And there’s the parking lot to the south, where an August shooting left two people killed and three others injured. David Hudnall, Kansas City Star, 23 Oct. 2025 Speaking to Variety, Meddour said the film will follow Bellaribi, charting her upbringing within a poor family of Algerian immigrants in the underprivileged suburb of Nanterre and being abandoned by her parents after an accident that left her seriously injured. Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 23 Oct. 2025 In the Artibonite, five people were injured in floods. Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2025 Communists and Nazis clashed over the following weeks, killing and injuring hundreds. Time, 23 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for injure
Recent Examples of Synonyms for injure
Verb
  • Cuomo has sought to cast Mamdani, a 34-year-old state assemblymember, as a naive candidate whose agenda would damage the city.
    Jason Ma, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2025
  • The three suspects damaged property and smashed several iPads taken from a special education classroom, according to a Facebook post by the Chandler Police Department.
    Wren Smetana, AZCentral.com, 26 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Advertisement While the commercial supply of goods has improved since the cease-fire deal, the flow of humanitarian aid continues to be marred by bureaucracy, delays, and blockages.
    Anna Halford, Time, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Martin starred as one of the NFL’s top running backs a decade ago, in a career that was also marred by injuries and off-field challenges.
    Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 22 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • But something always hurts that late in a marathon.
    Nicholas Thompson, The Atlantic, 23 Oct. 2025
  • The perception of Trump clearing the way for the Ellisons in the US could hurt them in other markets, sources said.
    Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 23 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Despite possessing some of the world’s largest oil reserves, mismanagement and falling global prices have crippled the economy.
    Amanda Castro, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
  • On December 7, 1941, 353 Japanese aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor, killing 2,403 Americans and crippling much of the Pacific Fleet.
    Big Think, Big Think, 20 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The most jarring example is the June 20, 2021 massacre in Richmond, where SSL-502 members allegedly opened fire at a house party where people were celebrating the Guatemalan Summer Solstice, killing three and wounding four.
    Harry Harris, Mercury News, 29 Oct. 2025
  • At least two people were killed and four wounded in a strike on a residential building in the city's Sabra neighborhood, and an area close to Shifa hospital, the largest operational hospital in northern Gaza, was also hit, according to Gaza officials, witnesses and Hamas media.
    Maayan Lubell, USA Today, 28 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Losing him for the entire World Series would weaken their already-thin bullpen, and force Roberts to get creative in high-leverage situations after his starting pitcher has been removed.
    Jon Paul Hoornstra, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
  • After accounting for lifestyle variables like exercise, the effects weakened a bit as, for example, more active people tend to spend more time outdoors.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 24 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • When digging, be careful not to cut through the tubers or bruise the spuds with rough handling.
    Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Not only does this help the mushrooms continue to sprinkle their spores along the forest floor, aiding the development of new mycelial networks, but this also avoids bruising and allows the delicate fungi to breathe, keeping them fresh and firm on the journey home.
    Callie Sumlin, Bon Appetit Magazine, 15 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Their heart rates were higher, and their insulin function was impaired the following morning.
    Rowan Jacobsen, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Kinman's mother, December Mitchell, and stepfather, Jonathan Mitchell, were charged with tampering with and fabricating physical evidence to impair a human corpse, which is a second-degree felony.
    Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 22 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Injure.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/injure. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.

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