Synonyms of prejudicial

prejudicial

adjective

ˌpre-jə-ˈdi-shəl 

1

as in detrimental

causing or capable of causing harm

pretrial publicity that may be extremely prejudicial to a defendant's right to a fair trial

Synonyms & Similar Words

• detrimental
• harmful
• adverse
• damaging
• dangerous
• bad
• injurious
• hazardous
• deleterious
• pernicious
• poisonous
• hurtful
• infectious
• evil
• noxious
• baneful
• mischievous
• wicked
• ill
• hostile
• nocuous
• baleful
• destructive
• unsafe
• deadly
• inimical
• venomous
• infective
• sinister
• unfriendly
• threatening
• risky
• lethal
• ominous
• insidious
• contagious
• menacing
• perilous
• fatal
• unsound
• unwholesome
• pestilential
• unhealthy
• pestiferous
• unhealthful
• ruinous
• malignant
• pestilent
• killer
• imperiling
• jeopardizing
• parlous
• nasty
• noisome

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• harmless
• innocent
• beneficial
• benign
• innocuous
• safe
• useful
• advantageous
• favorable
• inoffensive
• good
• helpful
• propitious
• salutary
• wholesome
• remedial
• anodyne
• healthy
• healthful
• curative
• salubrious
• sound
• palliative
• hurtless
• secure
• benignant
• noninfectious
• nondestructive
• nonfatal
• nontoxic
• noncorrosive
• nonpoisonous
• nonlethal
• nonpolluting
• nonvenomous

2

as in adverse

opposed to one's interests

the defense will try to counterbalance the mass of prejudicial evidence presented by the prosecution

Synonyms & Similar Words

• adverse
• negative
• unfavorable
• hostile
• detrimental
• harmful
• damaging
• destructive
• disadvantageous
• threatening
• inimical
• bad
• unfriendly
• dangerous
• unsympathetic
• hazardous
• untoward
• counter
• injurious
• risky
• offensive
• conflicting
• poisonous
• deleterious
• unsafe
• pernicious
• hurtful
• evil
• troublesome
• baneful
• opposing
• fatal
• lethal
• ruinous
• noxious
• malignant
• unhealthy
• murderous
• perilous
• defamatory
• antagonistic
• slanderous
• ill
• baleful
• intolerant
• uncongenial
• resistant
• inhospitable
• scathing
• uncooperative
• resisting
• calumnious
• detractive
• wounding
• antipathetic
• imperiling
• jeopardizing
• parlous
• competing
• counteracting
• countering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• favorable
• positive
• advantageous
• sympathetic
• beneficial
• friendly
• useful
• supportive
• good
• helpful
• harmless
• innocent
• propitious
• innocuous
• inoffensive
• nonthreatening
• nondestructive
• well-disposed
• nonfatal
• tolerant
• agreeable
• benign
• congenial
• friendly
• understanding
• amiable
• hospitable
• nonlethal
• cordial
• complying
• affable
• unresistant
• amicable
• benignant

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of prejudicial

Murdaugh’s attorneys appealed the murder convictions, saying the trial was tainted by the county clerk’s improper comments to jurors, prejudicial evidence and failures at trial. — Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 15 May 2026

In 2022, however, the Georgia Supreme Court tossed out the murder verdict (PDF), saying that prosecutors had introduced needlessly inflammatory and prejudicial material about Harris’ personal life at his trial. — Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica, 14 May 2026

To have air traffic controllers or the Transportation Security Administration to go without pay is insane and prejudicial to public safety. — Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 May 2026

Weinstein’s earlier rape conviction in New York was overturned by the state’s highest court on the grounds that prosecutors were allowed to introduce prejudicial testimony from women who claimed they were assaulted, but whose allegations were not charged. — Gene Maddaus, Variety, 23 Apr. 2026