harmful

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English harmful, from Old English *hearmful (suggested by hearmfullīċ (harmful; hurtful)), equivalent to harm + -ful.

Cognate with German harmvoll, Danish harmfuld, Swedish harmfull.

Pronunciation

Adjective

harmful (comparative harmfuller or more harmful, superlative harmfullest or most harmful)

  1. of a kind likely to be damaging; injurious
    Wear a hat to protect your skin from harmful sunlight.

Usage notes

  • Nouns to which "harmful" is often applied: effect, consequence, impact, influence, emission, chemical, ingredient, substance, gas, agent, additive, drug, radiation, dust, organism, plant, animal, insect, action, act, behavior, component, content, activity, interference, use.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Translations

See also

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