to do or cause harm of any kind to; damage; hurt; impair:
to injure one's hand.
2.
to do wrong or injustice to.
3.
to wound or offend:
to injure a friend's feelings.
Origin of injure
1575-1585
1575-85; back formation from injury (noun); replacing injury (v.)
Related forms
injurable, adjective
injurer, noun
quasi-injured, adjective
reinjure, verb (used with object), reinjured, reinjuring.
uninjured, adjective
uninjuring, adjective
Synonyms
1. spoil, ruin, break, mar. Injure,impair mean to harm or damage something. Injure is a general term referring to any kind or degree of damage: to injure one's spine; to injure one's reputation. To impair is to make imperfect in any way, often with a suggestion of progressive deterioration and of permanency in the result: One's health is impaired by overwork.2. maltreat, abuse.
mid-15c., "do an injustice to, dishonor," probably a back-formation from injury, or else from Middle French injuriier, from Latin injurare. Injury also served as a verb (late 15c.). Related: Injured; injuring.
