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hurt

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noun

hurt

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adjective

Synonym Chooser

How is the word hurt distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of hurt are damage, harm, impair, injure, and mar. While all these words mean "to affect injuriously," hurt implies inflicting a wound to the body or to the feelings.

hurt by their callous remarks

When can damage be used instead of hurt?

Although the words damage and hurt have much in common, damage suggests injury that lowers value or impairs usefulness.

a table damaged in shipping

When might harm be a better fit than hurt?

The words harm and hurt can be used in similar contexts, but harm often stresses the inflicting of pain, suffering, or loss.

careful not to harm the animals

When could impair be used to replace hurt?

The words impair and hurt are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, impair suggests a making less complete or efficient by deterioration or diminution.

years of smoking had impaired his health

When would injure be a good substitute for hurt?

While in some cases nearly identical to hurt, injure implies the inflicting of anything detrimental to one's looks, comfort, health, or success.

badly injured in an accident

When is mar a more appropriate choice than hurt?

While the synonyms mar and hurt are close in meaning, 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 hurt
Noun
Trump has claimed that the de minimis exemption hurts small American businesses. Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 31 July 2025 Already, consequences are reverberating through rural and urban communities as Trump’s Cabinet dismantles decades of progress, damages the futures of our children and hurts America’s economy, leaving a trail of destruction for future generations to clean up. Juliana Stratton, Chicago Tribune, 31 July 2025
Adjective
Our bodies are confused and, TBH, a little hurt by the whiplash weather of this past week. Deborah Sengupta Stith, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025 After all, this is a musical based on an epistolary novel, driven by letters sent between Celie, trapped in an early 20th century world of impoverished Black hurt and her beloved Nettie (Shantel Renee Cribbs), driven away from that world in order to survive. Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 1 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for hurt
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hurt
Verb
  • On the drive home, my arms felt shaky, and my lower back ached somewhat.
    Elise Devlin, New York Times, 24 July 2025
  • My whole body aches, from my fingertips to my toes.
    Christine Pelisek, People.com, 8 July 2025
Verb
  • Anything that damages the trust between the vendor, Microsoft, and the user is as much a threat as the hackers themselves, in my never humble opinion.
    Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 14 July 2025
  • Driving through deep water can also damage a vehicle's mechanical and electrical systems.
    NC Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 14 July 2025
Verb
  • Shooting comes 3 years after another incident The July 25 shooting comes less than three years after another fatal attack at a University of New Mexico housing building left one student dead and three campus visitors injured.
    Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 25 July 2025
  • The boyfriend and dog weren’t injured in the attack.
    Garfield Hylton, The Orlando Sentinel, 24 July 2025
Verb
  • Building the Band producers and Payne’s grieving family were weighing Payne’s inclusion, and ultimately decided to move forward with the former One Direction member remaining in the show made by Remarkable Entertainment (part of Banijay U.K.).
    Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 29 July 2025
  • In early May, as the victim met with the pastor to grieve the loss of her brother, Jay touched her over her clothes, documents say.
    Richard Ruelas, AZCentral.com, 28 July 2025
Noun
  • Extreme heat can also be an obstacle to exercising, spending time in nature, and socializing, all of which can make people feel good and also double as important coping mechanisms for emotional distress.
    Yasmin Tayag, The Atlantic, 26 July 2025
  • The lawsuit alleges both Transdev, which contracts with Boston Public Schools to provide bus transportation, and the driver Jean Charles were negligent and inflicted emotional distress on the family.
    Grace Zokovitch, Boston Herald, 25 July 2025
Noun
  • Experts say the false rhetoric coming out of the Trump administration creates real harm.
    Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 12 July 2025
  • Under Vera’s order, Los Angeles police are banned from using chemical irritants, and flash-bangs against journalists who do not pose a threat of imminent harm to an officer or another person.
    Ashleigh Fields, The Hill, 12 July 2025
Verb
  • This is unjust, and this injustice has genuinely pained me.
    Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 10 July 2025
  • One of the cost-saving measures that pained both performers and fans that year was opting to perform the iconic holiday show without the live performance by the Louisville Orchestra.
    Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, 2 July 2025
Verb
  • During questioning at the Austin Police Department, Mejia marred her credibility and inadvertently presented herself as a compulsive liar by initially telling police different stories about how Casiano was burned.
    Bianca Moreno-Paz, Austin American Statesman, 30 July 2025
  • Processing The Hulkster’s legacy in real-time is tough — not just because of his greatness, but because of the blemishes that marred his career inside and outside the ring.
    Carl Lamarre, Billboard, 24 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Hurt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hurt. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.

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