as in detrimental
causing or capable of causing harm
DDT has been proven to be extremely harmful to the environment
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Recent Examples of harmful
Doing so can both clear the air and avoid unintended harmful consequences.
—
Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
Parents cannot read their kids' messages, but will receive alerts if the text messages contain images with explicit content, harmful words from unknown contacts, or links from unknown contacts.
—PC Magazine, 30 Apr. 2025
Detox Kit Side Effects Research shows that people who use drug detox kits put themselves at risk for developing harmful adverse effects, including paranoia, hallucinations, and psychosis.14
How Does Marijuana Metabolize in the Body?
—Angelica Bottaro, Verywell Health, 29 Apr. 2025
For every person who happily sets 4:00 a.m. alarms on race morning, there’s another convinced the sport is too hard, too boring, or a waste of time, if not outright harmful.
—Cindy Kuzma, SELF, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harmful
Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
Parents cannot read their kids' messages, but will receive alerts if the text messages contain images with explicit content, harmful words from unknown contacts, or links from unknown contacts.
—PC Magazine, 30 Apr. 2025
Detox Kit Side Effects Research shows that people who use drug detox kits put themselves at risk for developing harmful adverse effects, including paranoia, hallucinations, and psychosis.14
How Does Marijuana Metabolize in the Body?
—Angelica Bottaro, Verywell Health, 29 Apr. 2025
For every person who happily sets 4:00 a.m. alarms on race morning, there’s another convinced the sport is too hard, too boring, or a waste of time, if not outright harmful.
—Cindy Kuzma, SELF, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harmful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harmful
Adjective
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Focusing too much on weight rather than taking a more holistic approach can be detrimental to the care of all patients.—
Hannah Yasharoff,
USA Today,
30 Apr. 2025
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And this has serious and detrimental consequences, not just for the colleges and universities, but for our economy.—
Destinee Adams,
NPR,
29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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States in the Mid-Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee valleys, stretching all the way into parts of Pennsylvania and western New York, could see thunderstorms, damaging winds, hail and a possible isolated tornado, the weather service said.—
Jeanine Santucci,
USA Today,
2 May 2025
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The trade put an end to a damaging few weeks for the team-player relationship between the Heat and Butler.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Activists have criticized clearing acres of trees, said that a firing range on campus could be dangerous and that the project would change the Matthews campus’ culture for the worse.—
Ryan Oehrli,
Charlotte Observer,
30 Apr. 2025
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Harvard-Westlake, last year’s Division 1 runner-up, is still dangerous with sophomore pitcher Justin Kirchner (7-0) and junior center fielder James Tronstein.—
Eric Sondheimer,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The result is potential adverse effects on the health, cognition, and well-being of older users and missed opportunities for support.—
Diana Spehar,
Forbes.com,
1 May 2025
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Sometimes this can be dangerous and cause serious adverse effects.—
Jamie Johnson,
Verywell Health,
1 May 2025
Adjective
-
President Donald Trump intends to completely reimagine U.S. trade relations with our closest partners and fiercest rivals, for better or worse.—
Charles Singh,
USA Today,
30 Apr. 2025
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Everything will come down to its capabilities, its vulnerabilities, its biases—for better and, definitely, for worse.—
Megan Garber,
The Atlantic,
29 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harmful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harmful. Accessed 11 May. 2025.
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