detrimental

[de-truh-men-tl]

adjective

1. causing detriment, as loss or injury; damaging; harmful.

noun

1. a detrimental person or thing.

detrimental

/ ˌdɛtrɪˈmɛntəl /

adjective

1. harmful; injurious; prejudicial

   smoking can be detrimental to health

Other Word Forms

• detrimentally adverb
• detrimentality noun
• detrimentalness noun
• nondetrimental adjective
• nondetrimentally adverb
• predetrimental adjective
• undetrimental adjective
• undetrimentally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of detrimental¹

First recorded in 1650–60; detriment + -al ¹

Example Sentences

Neither of the two new California bills “is as sweeping nor as detrimental to California’s healthcare investment as last year’s effort,” said Travis Jackson, a partner at law firm McDermott Will & Schulte.

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He also said that the company’s product costs more than its animal protein equivalent, “a feature that is particularly detrimental in a prolonged environment of tepid consumer spending.”

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The back-and-forth over key operations and their long-term uncertainty has been detrimental to the agency, employees said.

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He believes football's 'win-at-all-costs' approach is having a detrimental effect on the mental health and performance of current and future referees.

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A much-weakened yen would be detrimental to the White House’s attempts to narrow the U.S.’s trade deficit with Japan and complicate any future U.S.-Japan trade negotiations, at least from Tokyo’s perspective.

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Related Words

• adverse 
• destructive 
• disturbing 
• harmful 
• hurtful 
• inimical 
• injurious 
• negative 
• pernicious 
• prejudicial 
• unfavorable