Harmful vs Hurtful - What's the difference?
harmful | hurtful | Synonyms |
of a kind likely to be damaging; injurious
Tending to impair or damage; injurious; mischievous; occasioning loss or injury.
* 1649 : , Eikonoklastes
* 1890 : George Henry Rohé, Text-book of hygiene
Tending to hurt someone's feelings; insulting.
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Hurtful is a synonym of harmful.
As adjectives the difference between harmful and hurtful
is that harmful is of a kind likely to be damaging; injurious while hurtful is tending to impair or damage; injurious; mischievous; occasioning loss or injury.harmful
English
Alternative forms
* harmfull (archaic)Adjective
(en-adj)- Wear a hat to protect your skin from harmful sunlight.
Usage notes
* Nouns to which "harmful" is often applied: effect, consequence, impact, influence, emission, chemical, ingredient, substance, gas, agent, additive, drug, radiation, dust, organism, plant, animal, insect, action, act, behavior, component, content, activity, interference, use.Synonyms
* injurious; see alsoAntonyms
* beneficial * harmlessSee also
* harmhurtful
English
Alternative forms
* hurtfull (archaic)Adjective
(en adjective)- A good principle not rightly understood may prove as hurtful as a bad.
- Well-cultivated soils are often healthy; nor at present has it been proved that the use of manure is hurtful .