Need another word that means the same as “harmful”? Find 14 synonyms and 30 related words for “harmful” in this overview.
Table Of Contents:
The synonyms of “Harmful” are: damaging, injurious, detrimental, dangerous, deleterious, unfavourable, negative, disadvantageous, unhealthy, unwholesome, hurtful, baleful, wounding, destructive
Harmful as an Adjective
Definitions of "Harmful" as an adjective
According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “harmful” as an adjective can have the following definitions:
- Causing or likely to cause harm.
- Causing or capable of causing harm.
Synonyms of "Harmful" as an adjective (14 Words)
| baleful | Having a harmful or destructive effect. Bill shot a baleful glance in her direction. |
| damaging | Causing physical damage. New cars are less damaging to the environment. |
| dangerous | Able or likely to cause harm or injury. Unemployment reached dangerous proportions. |
| deleterious | Causing harm or damage. Deleterious chemical additives. |
| destructive | Causing great and irreparable damage. Destructive criticism. |
| detrimental | Tending to cause harm. Moving her could have a detrimental effect on her health. |
| disadvantageous | Involving or creating unfavourable circumstances that reduce the chances of success or effectiveness. A disadvantageous outcome. |
| hurtful | Causing distress to someone’s feelings. Her hurtful unconsidered words. |
| injurious | Harmful to living things. Food which is injurious to health. |
| negative | Having a negative charge. A colorless negative personality. |
| unfavourable | Tending to hinder or oppose. Unfavourable economic conditions. |
| unhealthy | (of a person’s attitude or behaviour) not sensible or well balanced. Unhealthy ulcers. |
| unwholesome | Detrimental to physical or moral well-being. The use of the living room as sleeping quarters led to unwholesome crowding. |
| wounding | Causing harm to a person’s feelings or reputation. A wounding description of their mother. |
Usage Examples of "Harmful" as an adjective
- Too much sun is harmful to the skin.
- The ozone layer blocks the harmful rays from the sun.
- Sugars which can be harmful to the teeth.
- Harmful effects of smoking.
Associations of "Harmful" (30 Words)
| counterproductive | Tending to hinder the achievement of a goal. Child experts fear the Executive s plans may prove counterproductive. |
| damage | Inflict damage upon. The car was badly damaged in the accident. |
| damaging | Causing physical damage. Damaging allegations of corruption. |
| deadly | Exceedingly harmful. My end of the theatre is deadly at the moment. |
| deleterious | Causing harm or damage. Deleterious chemical additives. |
| destructive | Negative and unhelpful. A policy that is destructive to the economy. |
| detrimental | (sometimes followed by `to’) causing harm or injury. Moving her could have a detrimental effect on her health. |
| exotoxin | A toxin released by a living bacterial cell into its surroundings. |
| fatal | Having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences; bringing ruin. Such doctrines if true would be absolutely fatal to my theory. |
| harm | Cause or do harm to. The villains didn t harm him. |
| hurt | Hurt the feelings of. Dogs and cats with hurt paws. |
| injurious | (of language) maliciously insulting; libellous. Food which is injurious to health. |
| injury | A casualty to military personnel resulting from combat. Compensation for injury to feelings. |
| insulting | Disrespectful or scornfully abusive. Insulting remarks. |
| libellous | Containing or constituting a libel. A libellous newspaper story. |
| libelous | (used of statements) harmful and often untrue; tending to discredit or malign. |
| noxious | Harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant. They were overcome by the noxious fumes. |
| pernicious | Working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way. The pernicious influences of the mass media. |
| poison | Kill by its poison. She poisoned her husband. |
| poisoning | The physiological state produced by a poison or other toxic substance. Symptoms of poisoning may include nausea diarrhoea and vomiting. |
| poisonous | (of an animal) producing poison as a means of attacking enemies or prey; venomous. A poisonous snake. |
| prejudicial | (sometimes followed by `to’) causing harm or injury. The proposals were considered prejudicial to the city centre. |
| ruinous | Causing injury or blight; especially affecting with sudden violence or plague or ruin. A ruinous course of action. |
| slanderous | (of a spoken statement) false and malicious. Slanderous allegations. |
| toxic | Denoting securities that are based on toxic debt and for which there is not a healthy or functioning market. Toxic liver injury. |
| toxin | A poisonous substance produced during the metabolism and growth of certain microorganisms and some higher plant and animal species. |
| unhealthy | Not conducive to good health. An unhealthy obsession with fast cars. |
| venom | Toxin secreted by animals; secreted by certain snakes and poisonous insects (e.g., spiders and scorpions. His voice was full of venom. |
| virulent | Infectious; having the ability to cause disease. Staphylococcus aureus is a common organism whose virulent strains are causing problems. |
| wound | Inflict a wound on. A wound to the thigh. |
