hurt
Americanverb (used with object)
-
hurts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hurt,
past participle, past
-
hurting
present participle
-
to cause bodily injury to; injure.
He was badly hurt in the accident.
-
to cause bodily pain to or in.
The wound still hurts him.
-
to damage or decrease the efficiency of (a material object) by striking, rough use, improper care, etc..
Moths can't hurt this suit because it's mothproof.
Dirty oil can hurt a car's engine.
-
to affect adversely; harm.
to hurt one's reputation;
It wouldn't hurt the lawn if you watered it more often.
-
to cause mental pain to; offend or grieve.
She hurt his feelings by not asking him to the party.
verb (used without object)
-
hurts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hurt,
past participle, past
-
hurting
present participle
-
to feel or suffer bodily or mental pain or distress.
My back still hurts.
- Synonyms:
- ache
-
to cause bodily or mental pain or distress.
The blow to his pride hurt most.
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to cause injury, damage, or harm.
-
to suffer want or need.
noun
adjective
-
physically injured.
The hurt child was taken to the hospital.
-
offended; unfavorably affected.
hurt pride.
-
suggesting that one has been offended or is suffering in mind.
Take that hurt look off your face!
-
damaged.
hurt merchandise.
verb
-
to cause physical pain to (someone or something)
-
to cause emotional pain or distress to (someone)
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to produce a painful sensation in (someone)
the bruise hurts
-
informal (intr) to feel pain
noun
-
physical, moral, or mental pain or suffering
-
a wound, cut, or sore
-
damage or injury; harm
adjective
noun
Usage
And is hurted in the dictionary? Hurted is not listed as a word in this dictionary. It’s not used as the standard past tense of hurt, nor is it commonly used in any other way. (General note: Just because a word doesn’t appear in the dictionary doesn’t necessarily mean it’s “not a word.” Some people may use it, and if enough people eventually start using it, it may be added to the dictionary.)
What’s the past tense of hurt?
The past tense of hurt is simply hurt. Example: I hurt my arm yesterday. Because the past tense is not formed with -ed, it’s an example of an irregular verb. Like hurt, the past tense form of many other irregular verbs is the same as the present tense. Many common ones are also short words that end in t, such as set, hit, cut, shut, put, and quit.Synonym Usage
See injury.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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hurtsimple
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hurtssimple
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have hurtperfect
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has hurtperfect
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am hurtingprogressive
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are hurtingprogressive
-
is hurtingprogressive
-
have been hurtingperfect progressive
-
has been hurtingperfect progressive
Past
-
hurtsimple
-
had hurtperfect
-
was hurtingprogressive
-
were hurtingprogressive
-
had been hurtingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hurt
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English verb hurten, hirten, herten “to injure, damage, stumble, knock together,” apparently from Old French hurter “to knock (against), oppose” (compare French heurter, originally dialectal), probably a verbal derivative of Frankish unattested hûrt “ram,” cognate with Old Norse hrūtr; noun derivative of the verb
Explanation
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.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The right mix of true and imagined can give the simplest of humane narratives — in this case, the possibility of renewal in an epidemic of hurt — a fresher chance to touch us.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
The rift hurt some longstanding investigations because leaders of the old unit worried they wouldn’t receive recognition for enforcement actions in which they did all the work, according to people familiar with the matter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Big picture: High inflation has hurt Americans by raising the cost of living, but a low unemployment rate and a low layoff rate have given people the confidence to keep spending like they normally do.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
"It doesn't hurt, there's no pain like what a burn might be considered to be like, and it can just very gradually come on."
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
“Then you’re not hurt by all that stuff he said?”
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
"When you do well but don't get recognition, it hurts," his father says.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
His sister, Darline Graham, who succeeded him in the Senate, said Friday the bill "hits Putin where it hurts."
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
“I’m typing this as I’m quite literally bawling my eyes out in my dressing room & it hurts me so much to disappoint you all.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
"It's more than punch power. That was spirit, that was Latz, that was Sina, that was the families. It hurts to even talk about it. It has been tough," Joshua, 36, said.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
If you really want to know the truth, it’s the forgetting that hurts most.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
“The media industry is a growth driver for the AI economy, and those that tear it down—those that are stealing IP—are hurting growth,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Minutes later, 8-year-old Carter Olsen hobbled in with his worried mother after hurting his arm in a fall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
He said that Tesla “seems unwilling or unable to reduce the uncertainty” around its scale-up, which is “clearly” hurting the stock.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
The fines against Google have been expected for months as part of a probe that began in 2024, but Brussels has faced claims of delaying the move over fears of hurting ties with Washington.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
He looked mad, like his eyes were hurting him.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
