HURTFULLY Synonyms: 90 Similar and Opposite Words

hurtfully

adverb

as in cruelly

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for hurtfully

Adverb

No matter how cruelly politicians and pundits discuss them, and no matter how desensitized the American people become by this rhetoric, immigrant kids are still kids.

— Hannah Harshe, Washington Post, 26 Oct. 2026
And, if Barisone was psychotically deluded, how was the jury meant to understand the defense’s central framing, which was that Kanarek had cruelly tried to harm Barisone?

— Ian Parker, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of cruelly

Adverb

That decision by the president was praised by Putin but criticized harshly by members of Congress, including some Republicans.

— Jennifer Jacobs, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026
Stewart was an executive producer of his friend Colbert’s show and harshly criticized the cancellation, rejecting Paramount’s financial justification and accusing the company of bending the knee to the president.

— Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of harshly

Adverb

When carb intake falls sharply, the liver turns fat into ketones, an alternative fuel for the brain and other tissues that may cause less metabolic stress.

— Rowan Jacobsen, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
While agreeing that batteries play a key role in cutting emissions from transport and power generation, the study warns that emissions from producing them could rise sharply if manufacturing expands without cleaner processes.

— Muskan Bhatia, Interesting Engineering, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of sharply

Adverb

Fetal personhood would also likely eliminate, or at a minimum severely restrict, people who seek to start a family using surrogacy and in vitro fertilization.

— Jim Defede, Miami Herald, 26 Oct. 2026
Torosian had told the prosecutor’s office that an undernourished, severely disabled girl who was receiving treatment at BioMed was subsisting entirely on spinach—on Kotthaus’s orders.

— D. T. Max, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of severely

Adverb

According to health and city officials, the people fell ill after drinking contaminated water from a water treatment plant which supplies water to several communities east of Pretoria.

— ABC News, ABC News, 21 Oct. 2026
One protester died in Paris after falling ill, according to Le Parisien.

— Kahina Sekkaï, Vanity Fair, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of ill

Adverb

Fans can expect old songs that are poignantly relevant again 30-some years after they were written — songs that highlight ongoing concerns with equal rights, politics and progressivism.

— Courtney Devores, Charlotte Observer, 16 Oct. 2026
The play’s tension, gently but poignantly unspooled, develops from the fact that while Ryan has pursued a career onstage, Charlie never did.

— Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2026

Definition of poignantly

Adverb

As money hijacks morality and democracy begins to look like a hoax, Tresnjak’s Broadway-caliber staging contrasts garish spectacle with piercingly intimate scenes between Claire and Anton.

— Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026
Chef Steven Pham is still simmering his signature Northern Vietnamese-style pho ga, which features a soul-piercingly clear broth, tender poached chicken, rice noodles, and a floating raft of fresh herbs.

— Becky Duffett, Bon Appetit Magazine, 8 June 2026

Definition of piercingly

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hurtful

hurtfully

hurting

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“Hurtfully.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hurtfully. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of hurtfully

adverb

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