Meaning & use
hurtful
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Making someone feel sad, upset or insulted.
Grammar: Describes words or actions: a hurtful remark. Can be followed by to: hurtful to someone.
Patterns
- hurtful to someone
- hurtful to do something
Her hurtful comment stayed with him for days.
It was hurtful to be left out of the plans.
The rumors were deeply hurtful to the family.
adjectivecomparablerareformal
Likely to cause physical harm or damage.
Grammar: Rare in this physical sense; harmful is more common.
Patterns
- hurtful to something
Too much sun can be hurtful to young plants.
The chemicals are hurtful to the skin.
Loud noise is hurtful to the ears.
Word forms
| comparative | more hurtful |
|---|---|
| superlative | most hurtful |
Common combinations
- hurtful words
- Hurtful words can be hard to forget.
- hurtful remark
- He regretted the hurtful remark.
- deeply hurtful
- The silence was deeply hurtful.
- find something hurtful
- I found his joke hurtful.
- hurtful to someone
- The decision was hurtful to many staff.
Synonyms and how they differ
- wounding
- Wounding is stronger and more literary, implying deep emotional damage.
- cruel
- Cruel suggests intent to cause pain, whereas hurtful may be unintentional.
- upsetting
- Upsetting is milder and describes distress without focusing on being targeted.
- offensive
- Offensive means likely to insult or anger people, often in public, while hurtful focuses on personal pain.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: hurtful or harmful?
hurtful vs harmful
Harmful usually means likely to cause damage or injury, while hurtful usually means emotionally painful.
Practice
She apologized for the ____ things she said during the argument.
Choose one answer.
We need an adjective before things, and hurtful describes upsetting words. Hurting and hurts are verb forms, and harmfully is an adverb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hurtful”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.