HURTING Synonyms: 216 Similar and Opposite Words

hurting 1 of 2

adjective

as in aching

causing or feeling bodily pain a badly hurting finger kept her from writing neatly

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hurting

2 of 2

verb

present participle of hurt

as in throbbing

to feel or cause physical pain my head hurts a bad sprain that really hurts I hurt all over

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as in damaging

to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of don't worry that you'll hurt the new lawn by walking across it

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in injuring

to cause bodily damage to the common belief that reading in poor light hurts your eyes

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as in grieving

to feel deep sadness or mental pain I know you must be hurting from the cruel words they said

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of hurting

Verb

So Avalon closed the door and did not burn that structure, and was very careful about not hurting anybody. — Fiction Non Fiction, Literary Hub, 25 June 2026 On the hardware side, this means functional safety measures that keep the robot from hurting the people around it. — Amanda McMaster, Fortune, 30 June 2026 Grisham had been one of the Yankees’ hottest hitters before hurting his hammy running the bases in Toronto on June 12. — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 27 June 2026 Paul’s words have proven prescient during the first few days of Wimbledon, where players losing their footing and either hurting themselves or not is as perennial as the strawberries and cream. — Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 3 July 2026 The grapegrower and winemaker associations argue that bulk wine imports have increased in recent years, hurting the local wine industry. — Lizzie Kane, Sacbee.com, 24 June 2026 Helpful or Hurtful Look at each item individually and determine whether each one is hurting or helping your overall organizational and decluttering goals. — Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 28 June 2026 Running Footwear Sector Paces Up Indeed, many major footwear brands have spent recent years clearing excess inventory through heavy discounting, hurting margins and diluting brand equity. — Mark Faithfull, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026 The triple whammy of the COVID-19 closures, inflation and technological disruption has left everyone hurting. — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hurting

Adjective

The homestretch of the drama, however, takes the story in a chilling direction, packing an aching quantity of feeling into a single glance at a security camera as someone climbs into a car and leaves the compound, never to be heard from again.

— Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 26 May 2026
Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain (1997) Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain is an aching, tender slow burn shaped by absence.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Apr. 2026

Definition of aching

Verb

Using X-ray and advanced sensors, PNNL scientists have been able to monitor material health without damaging components being tested.

— Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 2 July 2026
How to Remove Deodorant Stains With Baking Soda Baking soda is a natural deodorizer and a mild abrasive that helps lift both fresh and set-in deodorant stains without damaging fabrics, says Sokolowski.

— Madeline Buiano, Martha Stewart, 2 July 2026

Definition of damaging

Verb

On Sunday, Russia bombarded Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv with dozens of missiles and hundreds of strike drones, killing at least 11 and injuring scores more, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and media reports.

— Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 7 July 2026
The overnight attack comes just days after Russia launched a deadly assault on Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday morning, killing at least 31 people and injuring more than 80.

— Tiago Ventura, Time, 6 July 2026

Definition of injuring

Verb

Sixty years later, young Alma Singer begins searching for the writer of her mother’s favorite book, hoping to bring romance to her grieving parent.

— The Know, Denver Post, 5 July 2026
The movie follows Gugino as a grieving woman who takes in her troubled nephew, but their lives are upended when an otherworldly entity begins hunting him.

— Scott Huver, PEOPLE, 4 July 2026

Definition of grieving

Adjective

And that says something painful about what my country has become, and my place in it.

— Dawn M. Turner, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026
For thousands of Venezuelans, however, the absence of definitive answers has become one of the tragedy’s most painful consequences.

— Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 4 July 2026

Definition of painful

Verb

Lined with live oaks and old-fashioned, busy storefronts, this artsy town on the Gulf of Mexico has no commercial development marring its shoreline.

— Valerie Fraser Luesse, Southern Living, 16 June 2026
In Strasbourg, groups of Palace supporters clashed among themselves in a square in the city centre, marring the occasion.

— Matt Woosnam, New York Times, 28 May 2026

Definition of marring

Verb

In Brooklyn, New York’s Coney Island neighborhood, a man in a black ski mask opened fire on a family barbecue late Saturday night, wounding at least eight people, including four children.

— Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 5 July 2026
Nandito Badea, 21, and George Stana, 25, were found guilty by a jury last month of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

— ABC News, ABC News, 3 July 2026

Definition of wounding

Verb

While Sinlaku didn’t cause on deaths on land, Propst said residents were still mourning the six crewmembers of a cargo ship that overturned during the typhoon.

— ABC News, ABC News, 2 July 2026
While Freddy was in Boston mourning Germany’s defeat, online sleuths excavated the least-savory tidbits from his X posting history.

— Will Oremus, The Atlantic, 1 July 2026