to hurt

Examples

• All

• I hurt myself and I feel sick.

  Skinamarink (2023)

• I didn't want to hurt your feelings by telling the truth.

• Like I would never hurt someone in that way.

• - Why, I never meant to hurt him.

  Rampage (1987)

• I did not move because I knew that he would hurt me if I did.

  Academic text (2011)

• His followers are the people that he will hurt the most.

  I've Had It

• I want you to know that you don't just hurt yourself, you hurt me.

• I don't want to hurt him anymore.

  The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)

• I won't let them hurt you.

  Straw Dogs (1971)

• Alex nearly doubled over, his sides hurting as he desperately tried to catch his breath.

  Fiction book (1990)

Synonyms

H

to harm

vsto hurt

738 1.0

To cause a bad effect on people or things

also includes experiencing physical or emotional suffering as well as causing it

W

to wound

vsto hurt

110 5.7

To hurt a person's feelings deeply

is more general and includes both brief and physical pain forms

I

to injure

vsto hurt

53 1.6

Cause harm to people or things, for example to a company's good name

also covers emotional pain and the general causing or feeling of pain

B

to bruise

vsto hurt

• Informal

33 4.2

To hurt someone's feelings or pride

is more general, covering physical or emotional pain beyond insults

S

to sting

vsto hurt

26 3.3

To feel sharp emotional pain after someone says something hurtful

is broader and applies to many kinds and durations of pain

A

to ache

vsto hurt

25 1.0

To feel a steady, dull pain in a part of the body

is broader, also meaning to cause pain as well as to feel it

S

to smart

vsto hurt

19 7.4

To feel a sharp, stinging pain

is broader and includes emotional pain as well as other pain types

P

to pain

vsto hurt

9 1.1

To make someone feel physical hurt

covers both causing and experiencing physical or emotional suffering

A

to aggrieve

vsto hurt

• Literature

1 8.9

To cause someone pain or deep sadness

is broader, covering ordinary harm or pain without the injustice focus

H

to hurtin'

vsto hurt

• Informal

9.8

To cause physical or emotional pain to someone

is the neutral term for causing or feeling physical or emotional pain

Antonyms

H

to heal

481 1.2

To become healthy again after an injury, illness, or emotional pain

C

to comfort

172 1.0

To make someone feel less upset or in pain

Idioms

H

to hurt a fly

• Informal

14 5.1

Be so gentle that you do not harm even a fly

H

hurt your knife

• Informal

9.9

A mocking question you ask after someone betrays you to show anger

S

sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me

• Informal

8.7

A phrase that says hurt to the body is worse than insults and words do not hurt

Phrasal Verbs

H

to hurt pride

5.5

To make someone feel embarrassed and less confident

Compounds

H

hurt feelings

14 2.8

Sadness and upset after someone says or does something unkind

How Much Harm

to maim

• NSFW

35 7.0

to wound

617 2.3

to injure

53 1.6

to hurt

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

Etymology