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.
In some cases, people interested in running weren’t sure if renting would be detrimental to their candidacy.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
“Cultivating adolescents’ future time perspective is therefore crucial to counteract short-form video addiction’s detrimental effects and bolster their academic buoyancy,” the study’s authors wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
"Swapping him out won't change how the team is moving forward. If anything it will be detrimental."
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
"Our data suggest this metabolic whiplash is detrimental to heart health," Al-Aly added.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026
Have we fallen into a mesmerized state that makes us accept as inevitable that which is inferior or detrimental, as though having lost the will or the vision to demand that which is good?
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
