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 Four people have died and 90 others have been injured following a gas tanker explosion in Mexico City. Gabrielle Rockson, People.com, 11 Sep. 2025 Continue reading … SCHOOL TERROR – Colorado governor 'praying for the victims' as teens critically injured in school shooting. FOXNews.com, 11 Sep. 2025 Two students were injured in a shooting at a Colorado high school on Wednesday after another student opened fire. Chantelle Lee, Time, 11 Sep. 2025 In addition to the 16 killed, at least 20 people, including Iguernane, were injured. David Chiu, PEOPLE, 11 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for injure
Recent Examples of Synonyms for injure
Verb
  • Using abrasive cleaner or products with harsh chemicals can damage the beautiful material and lead to a less-than-pretty tub.
    Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 14 Sep. 2025
  • But posting on social media leaves a record, and in times of escalating political polarization, those declarations can be seen as damaging to the reputation of an individual or their employer.
    Nino Paoli, Fortune, 14 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The disruptions come amid a WNBA season in which multiple games were marred by the objects making appearances on the court.
    Anna Lazarus Caplan, PEOPLE, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Each death was devastating to relatives and friends left behind, and the first decades of the twentieth century were marred by individual grief on a global scale.
    Alice Vernon September 8, Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • But some of his campaign’s reactions to Fetterman’s stroke in May 2022 hurt his chances even more.
    Kimberly Ross, The Washington Examiner, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Lopes is a very tough fighter, but his inability to stay technical will hurt him against the powerful Silva.
    Trent Reinsmith, Forbes.com, 12 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Killing, Corrupting, and Exiling of Science Under Hitler Widely regarded as the world’s research powerhouse in the 1920s and early 30s, German science was crippled by the Nazis starting in 1933, when Hitler gained power as Chancellor.
    Scott Montgomery, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Deadly floods in Asia have devastated crops, crippling already fragile food production.
    Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • That same day, a student opened fire at a Colorado high school, critically wounding two peers.
    Juliana Kim, NPR, 17 Sep. 2025
  • In the past two years, more than 10% of the population has been killed or wounded - including tens of thousands of children - and that number only continues to rise.
    Saajan Jogia, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Foreign powers such as Russia and China, which challenge America and its allies from Europe to the Middle East to Taiwan and the South China Sea, have long been accused of exploiting such divisions through disinformation campaigns that inflame tensions and weaken confidence in American governance.
    Amir Daftari, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Sep. 2025
  • But around the equinoxes, the natural buffer weakens.
    Daisy Dobrijevic, Space.com, 12 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • If rain severely impairs your vision, pull over and wait for conditions to improve.
    Southern California Weather Report, Oc Register, 12 Sep. 2025
  • While alcohol typically impairs coordination and reaction time, drugs present a more complex picture.
    Andrew Yockey, The Conversation, 11 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Each of us takes about twenty thousand breaths every single day—twenty thousand chances for the air around us to either sustain life or to quietly harm it.
    Bill Frist, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Punishment can create stress and harm your relationship.
    Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Injure.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/injure. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.

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