detrimental
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of detrimental
Explanation
Detrimental is a formal way of saying "harmful." Anything detrimental hurts, hinders, or puts a damper on something. Detrimental things do damage. Have you ever heard "Smoking may be detrimental to your health" and wondered what it meant? It means that smoking is bad for your health: it's going to harm you in a bunch of ways. Detrimental is a more official, formal way of talking about things that do harm. A dog who likes digging holes can be detrimental to a garden. If you're writing a paper and want to pick an alternative to harmful that sounds more formal, detrimental is a great choice.
Vocabulary lists containing detrimental
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
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This Week in Words: January 27 - February 2, 2018
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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.
“Marrying early has universally detrimental effects over a range of outcomes, including educational attainment; earnings; physical, reproductive, and mental health; experiences of violence; and likelihood of divorce, particularly for girls,” the study found.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
The human interaction, back-and-forth questions and follow-ups are essential to keep their stories authentic and anti-AI — a system that is proving to be detrimental to teaching writing skills.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
"If those wounds are not healed it can have a really detrimental impact, not only on the people concerned but also on the reputation of the institution."
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
Police have asked the public to avoid speculation on the circumstances around this attack, which they say is upsetting for the family and friends and could have a detrimental impact on the investigation.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
I wondered how many other clerks there were upstairs, and whether they all claimed to have the same detrimental mastery of their fellow-creatures.
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
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.
