harmful
English · Thesaurus
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harmful
- /ˈhɑːmfl̩/ UK
- /ˈhɑɹmfl̩/ US
Where it comes from
From Middle English harmful, from Old English *hearmful (suggested by hearmfullīċ (“harmful; hurtful”)), equivalent to harm + -ful.
Cognate with German harmvoll, Danish harmfuld, Swedish harmfull.
adjective harmfuller · more harmful · harmfullest · most harmful · harmfull
-
Causing or likely to cause harm or damage; injurious.
Wear a hat to protect your skin from harmful sunlight.
Similar: injurious, harmful, damaging, deleterious, detrimental, hurtful, inimical, mischievous, nocent, nocuous, noxious, noisome
Opposite: beneficial, harmless, helpful, valuable, innocent, innocuous, innoxious, inoffensive, undamaging, unharmful
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: detrimental, injurious, damaging, hurtful, deleterious, noxious, pernicious, degrading, denigratory, denigrative, ruinous, abusive, malign, traumatic, evil, ill
adjective
Opposite: beneficial, harmless, helpful, valuable, innocent, innocuous, innoxious, inoffensive, undamaging, unharmful
Translations
Every language
adj likely to be damaging
| Español | perjudicial, perjudicador, lesivo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 해로운 haeroun, 유해한 yuhaehan |
| 日本語 | 有害な yūgai-na |
| 中文 | 有害 yǒuhài, 不良 bùliáng |
| हिन्दी | हानिकारक hānikārak, अहितकर ahitkar, अपकारी apkārī, घातक ghātak |
| Português | prejudicial, nocivo, danoso, daninho |
| Français | dangereux, nuisible, nocif, préjudiciable |
| Deutsch | schädlich |
| Italiano | dannoso, nocivo |
| Română | nociv, prejudiciabil, dăunător, vătămător, păgubitor, stricător |
| Русский | вре́дный vrédnyj, вредоно́сный vredonósnyj, зловре́дный zlovrédnyj |
| العربية | ضَارّ ḍārr, مُضِرّ muḍirr |
Talk about this word "harmful." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/harmful. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. harmful. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/harmful "harmful." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/harmful.Cite this
@misc{harmful_2026,
title = {harmful},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/harmful},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
