injury
Americannoun
-
injuries
plural
-
harm or damage that is done or sustained.
to escape without injury.
- Synonyms:
- mischief, impairment, ruin, destruction
- Antonyms:
- benefit
-
a particular form or instance of harm.
an injury to one's shoulder; an injury to one's pride.
-
wrong or injustice done or suffered.
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Law. any wrong or violation of the rights, property, reputation, etc., of another for which legal action to recover damages may be made.
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Obsolete. injurious speech; calumny.
noun
-
physical damage or hurt
-
a specific instance of this
a leg injury
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harm done to a reputation
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law a violation or infringement of another person's rights that causes him harm and is actionable at law
-
an obsolete word for insult
Synonym Usage
Injury, hurt, wound refer to impairments or wrongs. Injury, originally denoting a wrong done or suffered, is hence used for any kind of evil, impairment, or loss, caused or sustained: physical injury; injury to one's reputation. Hurt suggests especially physical injury, often bodily injury attended with pain: a bad hurt from a fall. A wound is usually a physical hurt caused by cutting, shooting, etc., or an emotional hurt: a serious wound in the shoulder; to inflict a wound by betraying someone's trust.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of injury
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English injurie, from Latin injūria “unlawful conduct, injustice,” equivalent to in- in- 3 + jūr-, stem of jūs “right, law” ( see jus, just 1) + -ia -ia
Explanation
Injury is a noun with several similar meanings, all involving physical harm or wrongdoing. If you’re not careful, your reckless bike riding could result in a crash that causes injury. Injury often refers to physical damage, but it can be used more figuratively to describe something that's unjust or that causes harm that isn't physical. For example, your estranged grandfather might do you the injury of leaving you out of his will. The word injury comes from in-, meaning “not,” and the Latin root ius or iur, meaning “right.” So an injury is something that's not right — it's something that has gone wrong that leads to damage.
Vocabulary lists containing injury
You Be the Judge: Jud, Jur, Jus
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Negatives with "in"
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That Hurts! Synonyms for "Pain"
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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:
Six-year-old Saja was resuscitated but showed signs of a brain injury throughout treatment.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
Smith returns after being sidelined for almost three months by a nagging neck injury.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
The majority ruled that the plaintiff lacked the standing to sue because the injury claimed wasn’t “concrete and particularized.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
The court also rejected the trust’s argument that Hoagland’s expertise and long-standing commitment to historic architecture made her injury different.
From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026
His own head throbbed, as if he’d been the one to sustain the injury.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
Officers also found Lawantara suffering from injuries and he was transported to a hospital for treatment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
“Today, I mourn the 3K lives, 6K injuries, & infrastructural devastation in NYC, perpetuated ignorantly in the name of my faith,” El-Sayed wrote on Sept. 11, 2021.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
The military has only confirmed striking several targets in Gaza "in order to remove threats to the security forces", adding that there were no injuries to its troops.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
That distinction matters because the Supreme Court has recognized aesthetic injuries in other settings.
From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026
As I stood, I thought about refusing, maybe playing up my injuries until I could figure things out, but I quickly dismissed that option.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
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.
