Hurt - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms

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SKIP TO CONTENT hurt /hərt/ /hət/ IPA guide

Other forms: hurts; hurting; hurted; hurter

If you have a party and no one shows up, you will probably feel hurt: emotionally injured by what's happened.

Hurt comes from the Old French hurte, meaning "collision," or "blow." We still have that violent sense in our word hurtle but we use hurt for a whole range of pains. If you stub your toe, it hurts, and if someone is beating you up you might say, "Stop hurting me!" Someone injured in battle or in sports is described as hurt. If you say something you shouldn't on live radio, you'll hurt your chances of winning an election.

Definitions of hurt

verb be the source of pain synonyms: ache, smart see moresee less types: show 12 types... hide 12 types... bite, burn, sear, sting cause a sharp or stinging pain or discomfort burn feel hot or painful itch have or perceive an itch hunger feel the need to eat thirst feel the need to drink act up make itself felt as a recurring pain throb pulsate or pound with abnormal force shoot cause a sharp and sudden pain in tickle, titillate, vellicate touch (a body part) lightly so as to excite the surface nerves and cause uneasiness, laughter, or spasmodic movements nettle, urticate sting with or as with nettles and cause a stinging pain or sensation twang twitch or throb with pain prickle, tingle cause a stinging or tingling sensation type of: cause to be perceived have perceptible qualities
verb give trouble or pain to “This exercise will hurt your back” see moresee less types: show 23 types... hide 23 types... injure, wound cause injuries or bodily harm to ail, pain, trouble cause bodily suffering to and make sick or indisposed disagree with not be very easily digestible trample injure by trampling or as if by trampling concuss injure the brain; sustain a concussion calk injure with a calk excruciate, torment, torture subject to torture overstretch, pull strain abnormally shock, traumatise, traumatize inflict a trauma upon maim injure or wound seriously and leave permanent disfiguration or mutilation rick, sprain, turn, twist, wrench, wrick twist suddenly so as to sprain subluxate sprain or dislocate slightly disable, handicap, incapacitate, invalid injure permanently harm cause or do harm to run down, run over injure or kill by running over, as with a vehicle break, fracture fracture a bone of break out, erupt, recrudesce become raw or open hit, pip, shoot hit with a missile from a weapon knife, stab use a knife on scrape, skin bruise, cut, or injure the skin or the surface of bruise, contuse injure the underlying soft tissue or bone of graze break the skin (of a body part) by scraping mace spray with a liquid that irritates the eyes and temporarily disables a person type of: indispose cause to feel unwell
verb feel pain or be in pain synonyms: suffer see moresee less types: show 4 types... hide 4 types... have suffer from; be ill with choke, gag, strangle, suffocate struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake ail be ill or unwell famish, hunger, starve be hungry; go without food type of: be have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)
verb feel physical pain “Were you hurting after the accident?” synonyms: ache, suffer see moresee less types: show 5 types... hide 5 types... catch, get suffer from the receipt of twinge feel a sudden sharp, local pain prick, sting, twinge cause a stinging pain kill be the source of great pain for prick, prickle cause a prickling sensation type of: comprehend, perceive become aware of through the senses
verb cause emotional anguish or make miserable synonyms: anguish, pain see moresee less types: show 4 types... hide 4 types... break someone's heart cause deep emotional pain and grief to somebody agonise, agonize cause to agonize try give pain or trouble to excruciate, rack, torment, torture torment emotionally or mentally type of: discomfit, discompose, disconcert, rattle, untune, upset cause to lose one's composure
verb hurt the feelings of “She hurt me when she did not include me among her guests” synonyms: bruise, injure, offend, spite, wound see moresee less types: show 6 types... hide 6 types... affront, diss, insult treat, mention, or speak to rudely lacerate deeply hurt the feelings of; distress sting cause an emotional pain, as if by stinging abase, chagrin, humble, humiliate, mortify cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of crush, demolish, smash humiliate or depress completely degrade, demean, disgrace, put down, take down reduce in worth or character, usually verbally type of: arouse, elicit, enkindle, evoke, fire, kindle, pique, provoke, raise call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)
noun feelings of mental or physical pain synonyms: suffering see moresee less types: agony, torment, torture intense feelings of suffering; acute mental or physical pain throes violent pangs of suffering discomfort, irritation, soreness an uncomfortable feeling of mental painfulness or distress type of: pain, painfulness emotional distress; a fundamental feeling that people try to avoid
noun any physical damage to the body caused by violence or accident or fracture etc. synonyms: harm, injury, trauma see moresee less types: show 65 types... hide 65 types... brain damage injury to the brain that impairs its functions (especially permanently); can be caused by trauma to the head, infection, hemorrhage, inadequate oxygen, genetic abnormality, etc. birth trauma physical injury to an infant during the birth process blast trauma injury caused the explosion of a bomb (especially in enclosed spaces) bleeding, haemorrhage, hemorrhage the flow of blood from a ruptured blood vessel blunt trauma injury incurred when the human body hits or is hit by a large outside object (as a car) bruise, contusion an injury that doesn't break the skin but results in some discoloration bump a lump on the body caused by a blow burn an injury caused by exposure to heat or chemicals or radiation dislocation a displacement of a part (especially a bone) from its normal position (as in the shoulder or the vertebral column) electric shock trauma caused by the passage of electric current through the body (as from contact with high voltage lines or being struck by lightning); usually involves burns and abnormal heart rhythm and unconsciousness break, fracture breaking of hard tissue such as bone cryopathy, frostbite destruction of tissue by freezing and characterized by tingling, blistering and possibly gangrene intravasation entry of foreign matter into a blood vessel penetrating injury, penetrating trauma injury incurred when an object (as a knife or bullet or shrapnel) penetrates into the body pinch an injury resulting from getting some body part squeezed rupture the state of being torn or burst open bite, insect bite, sting a painful wound caused by the thrust of an insect's stinger into skin strain injury to a muscle (often caused by overuse); results in swelling and pain whiplash, whiplash injury an injury to the neck (the cervical vertebrae) resulting from rapid acceleration or deceleration (as in an automobile accident) wale, weal, welt, wheal a raised mark on the skin (as produced by the blow of a whip); characteristic of many allergic reactions lesion, wound an injury to living tissue (especially an injury involving a cut or break in the skin) pull, twist, wrench a sharp strain on muscles or ligaments raw wound a wound that exposes subcutaneous tissue stigmata marks resembling the wounds on the crucified body of Christ abrasion, excoriation, scrape, scratch an abraded area where the skin is torn or worn off cut, gash, slash, slice a wound made by cutting laceration a torn ragged wound bite a wound resulting from biting by an animal or a person bee sting a sting inflicted by a bee flea bite sting inflicted by a flea mosquito bite a sting inflicted by a mosquito haemorrhagic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke stroke caused by the rupture of a blood vessel in the brain ecchymosis the purple or black-and-blue area resulting from a bruise petechia a minute red or purple spot on the surface of the skin as the result of tiny hemorrhages of blood vessels in the skin (as in typhoid fever) black eye, mouse, shiner a swollen bruise caused by a blow to the eye electric burn a burn caused by heat produced by an electric current scorch, singe a surface burn scald a burn cause by hot liquid or steam first-degree burn burn causing redness of the skin surface second-degree burn burn causing blisters on the skin and superficial destruction of the dermis third-degree burn burn characterized by destruction of both epidermis and dermis comminuted fracture fracture in which the bone is splintered or crushed complete fracture break involving the entire width of the bone compound fracture, open fracture bone fracture associated with lacerated soft tissue or an open wound compression fracture fracture in which the bone collapses (especially in short bones such as vertebrae) depressed fracture fracture of the skull where the bone is pushed in displaced fracture fracture in which the two ends of the broken bone are separated from one another fatigue fracture, stress fracture fracture resulting from excessive activity rather than a specific injury capillary fracture, hairline fracture a fracture without separation of the fragments and the line of the break being very thin incomplete fracture fracture that does not go across the entire width of the bone impacted fracture fracture in which one broken end is wedged into the other broken end closed fracture, simple fracture an uncomplicated fracture in which the broken bones to not pierce the skin abarticulation dislocation of a joint diastasis separation of an epiphysis from the long bone to which it is normally attached without fracture of the bone spondylolisthesis a forward dislocation of one vertebra over the one beneath it producing pressure on spinal nerves hernia, herniation rupture in smooth muscle tissue through which a bodily structure protrudes herniated disc, ruptured intervertebral disc, slipped disc a painful rupture of the fibrocartilage of the disc between spinal vertebrae; occurs most often in the lumbar region sprain a painful injury to a joint caused by a sudden wrenching of its ligaments immersion foot, trench foot resembling frostbite but without freezing; resulting from exposure to cold and wet cerebral hemorrhage bleeding from a ruptured blood vessel in the brain blood extravasation the leakage of blood from a vessel into tissues surrounding it; can occur in injuries or burns or allergic reactions hyphema bleeding into the interior chamber of the eye metrorrhagia bleeding from the uterus that is not due to menstruation; usually indicative of disease (as cervical cancer) epistaxis, nosebleed bleeding from the nose ulemorrhagia bleeding of the gums type of: health problem, ill health, unhealthiness a state in which you are unable to function normally and without pain
noun psychological suffering synonyms: distress, suffering see moresee less types: show 4 types... hide 4 types... anguish, torment, torture extreme mental distress self-torment, self-torture self-imposed distress tsoris (Yiddish) trouble and suffering wound a figurative injury (to your feelings or pride) type of: pain, painfulness emotional distress; a fundamental feeling that people try to avoid
noun the act of damaging something or someone synonyms: damage, harm, scathe see moresee less types: show 7 types... hide 7 types... impairment damage that results in a reduction of strength or quality defacement, disfiguration, disfigurement the act of damaging the appearance or surface of something wound, wounding the act of inflicting a wound burn damage inflicted by fire defloration an act that despoils the innocence or beauty of something mutilation the act of severely damaging or ruining something scald the act of burning with steam or hot water type of: change of integrity the act of changing the unity or wholeness of something
adjective suffering from physical injury especially that suffered in battle “ambulances...for the hurt men and women” synonyms: wounded injured harmed
verb cause damage or affect negatively “Our business was hurt by the new competition” synonyms: blight, injure see moresee less type of: damage inflict damage upon
noun a damage or loss synonyms: detriment see moresee less types: expense a detriment or sacrifice type of: damage, harm, impairment the occurrence of a change for the worse
adjective damaged inanimate objects or their value synonyms: weakened damaged harmed or injured or spoiled

Pronunciation US /hərt/ UK /hət/ Cite this entry Style: MLA

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Copy citation DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘hurt'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback Word Family 2 million people are mastering new words. Master a word

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