injure
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
-
to cause physical or mental harm or suffering to; hurt or wound
-
to offend, esp by an injustice
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
injurernoun
-
reinjureverb (used with object)
-
injurableadjective
-
injuredadjective
-
quasi-injuredadjective
-
uninjuredadjective
-
uninjuringadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
injuresimple
-
injuressimple
-
have injuredperfect
-
has injuredperfect
-
am injuringprogressive
-
are injuringprogressive
-
is injuringprogressive
-
have been injuringperfect progressive
-
has been injuringperfect progressive
Past
-
injuredsimple
-
had injuredperfect
-
was injuringprogressive
-
were injuringprogressive
-
had been injuringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of injure
1575–85; back formation from injury (noun); replacing injury (verb)
Explanation
Injure means to hurt, physically or mentally. Lose a bet and you might injure or bruise your pride, but lose your footing and you could injure your body instead. When a player in a sport is injured, they leave the field to be examined by a trainer or a physician, to see how severe their injury really is. If you slip and fall on the ice, your mom might say, "Are you injured?" She doesn't mean a bruise–––she's talking about a broken bone or a sprained ankle. You can also injure or wound someone else. Insult your mother's cooking or tackle your little brother too roughly to the ground and you'll injure them, either emotionally or physically.
Vocabulary lists containing injure
Lesson 1
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Vocabulary Review, Unit 4
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
jur, jus, List 1
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
He counsels them not to be afraid, even after early clandestine operations injure first the narrator, then Gavriel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Asked by his defence barrister if he wanted teachers to discover it, he said "no" and also denied wanting to use it in a violent way or to deliberately injure Williams.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
It hit a toolshed and did not injure anyone, although it was carrying explosives.
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
The team also reports that unpublished experiments found similar regenerative benefits after treatment with the chemotherapy drug 5-fluorouracil, which is commonly used against colon and pancreatic cancers but can also injure the intestinal lining.
From Science Daily ● May 21, 2026
But even on the land the devilfish can injure you, for he is strong and does not die quickly.
From "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell
In implementing the law, the government further defined "harm" to include "significant habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills or injures wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, including breeding, feeding or sheltering."
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
His phone rings during a moment of silence for a deceased patient and he injures his finger moving a patient off a gurney.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2025
He was taken to hospital and treated for burn injures.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2024
Sepsis arises when the body has an extreme response to an infection and injures its own tissues and organs.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 18, 2024
“I wouldn’t recommend getting struck. Lightning kills an average of 47 people in America every year and severely injures hundreds, maybe thousands.”
From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty
"He has been suspended, and the three people injured in the incident are undergoing treatment," police superintendent Puran Kumar Jha told AFP on Monday.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
It is unclear if all 207 were injured as a result of the Iran war.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Between the Dodgers’ position in the standings, and the amount of talent they expect coming off the injured list, however, they don’t need to add Skubal to still be widely considered World Series favorites.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
At least 75 firefighters were injured, according to local authorities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
“For now, just take your shirt off and put it back on with your injured arm inside instead of through the sleeve,” she told Sue.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
The June 24 disaster—which devastated this coastal region, killing at least 4,118 and injuring some 17,000, with 30,000 still missing—exposed the deep failures of the country’s public-health system.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
Rescue efforts are continuing in the country, after back-to-back quakes struck the country, killing at least 920 people and injuring more than 3,360.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
The 38-year-old Messi had not featured for Argentina in the build-up to their title defence after injuring a hamstring playing for Inter Miami in late May.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
And in 1989, thousands had to flee when poisonous chlorine gas leaked from a 30-ton tank in Ventura County, injuring about 20 people.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026
He reached one of the giant robot pelican suit’s giant robot pelican feet and kicked it, injuring his own toes.
From "Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody" by Patrick Ness
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.
