hurtful

comparative more hurtful · superlative most hurtful · alternative archaic hurtfull

1. Tending to impair or damage; injurious; occasioning loss or injury.

   A good principle not rightly understood may prove as hurtful as a bad.

   1649, John Milton, Eikonoklastes

   1 more example

   Well-cultivated soils are often healthy; nor at present has it been proved that the use of manure is hurtful.

   1890, George Henry Rohé, Text-book of hygiene

   Synonyms: pernicious, harmful, harmful, damaging, deleterious, detrimental, inimical, injurious

2. Tending to hurt someone's feelings; insulting; lacerating.

   This mentality made me an incredibly hurtful person, but I wasn't concerned with how others felt about me.

   2012, Robin Leigh, Dear Dadd, page 38

   3 more examples

   Both men and women can be emotionally abusive. Even in the healthiest relationships, people occasionally reach down into their personal bags of known remembrances, past disagreements, and unresolved issues, and fling hurtful comments at their partners.

   2000, Michael Paymar, Violent No More

   Better yet, maybe she should call and apologize for all of the rude comments she spewed in the midst of her anger—hurtful comments that should never be spoken between a wife and her husband.

   2006, Ryan Phillips, Fall from Grace

   She told CNN’s State of the Union show: “His [Donald Trump's] remarks, of course, have been hurtful … the most hurtful thing he said, which is absolutely untrue, is he called me a traitor and that is so extremely wrong.”

   2025 November 16, Joanna Walters, quoting Marjorie Taylor Greene, “Marjorie Taylor Greene says Trump’s remarks hurtful but hopes they can make up”, in The Guardian, →ISSN