harm
noun
physical injury or mental damage; hurt.
harm
1 American
[hahrm]
/ hɑrm /
noun
-
physical injury or mental damage; hurt.
to do him bodily harm.
- Antonyms:
- benefit
-
moral injury; evil; wrong.
verb (used with object)
-
harms,
present (3rd person singular)
-
harmed,
past participle, past
-
harming
present participle
HARM
2
American
[hahrm]
/ hɑrm /
noun
Military.
harm
British
/ hɑːm /
noun
-
physical or mental injury or damage
-
moral evil or wrongdoing
verb
harm
Idioms
Synonym Usage
See damage.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
harmsimple
-
harmssimple
-
have harmedperfect
-
has harmedperfect
-
am harmingprogressive
-
are harmingprogressive
-
is harmingprogressive
-
have been harmingperfect progressive
-
has been harmingperfect progressive
Past
-
harmedsimple
-
had harmedperfect
-
was harmingprogressive
-
were harmingprogressive
-
had been harmingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of harm1
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English hearm; cognate with German Harm, Old Norse harmr
Origin of HARM2
H(igh-speed) A(nti) R(adiation) M(issile)
Explanation
Harm is a deliberate injury or damage to someone or something. A playground bully is a mean kid who causes harm to other kids. Harm is both a noun and a verb — when you inflict harm on your brother, you harm him. Physically hurting someone is only one way to harm them. If a classmate spreads a mean rumor about you, that also harms you. The Old English root word is hearm, which means "hurt" and "pain," but also "evil" and "insult."
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:
TikTok’s ‘For You’ feed could harm users by repeatedly exposing them to triggering content, the European Commission said, warning that the company might be in breach of the bloc’s online content rules.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2026
“If we were thinking about harm reduction, we wouldn’t be thinking only about current users,” said Zettler.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2026
A former Royal Marine found dead after he was charged with assisting the Hong Kong intelligence service told police he would harm himself after he left custody, an inquest heard.
From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2026
A group of advisers including Rubio and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick persuaded him it would harm national security.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2026
Jimbo must have realized that Rowdy and I meant him no harm.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
The traditional medical motto has now become a challenge: DO NO HARM.
From New York Times ● Aug. 24, 2010
It can't do you any HARM, you know,' he went on in hoarse whispered earnestness.
From The Phoenix and the Carpet by E. (Edith) Nesbit
Some of the harms included depression, anxiety, addiction and body image issues as young people compare themselves to others on social media.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
The UK has signed up to "structured, time-bound, inclusive and good-faith" talks that address the "historical harms" of the transatlantic slave trade, Commonwealth leaders in Antigua have said.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
The researchers then turned to zebrafish to investigate exactly how chlorpyrifos harms neurons.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 1, 2026
Jury selection is expected to begin on Wednesday in Los Angeles for another landmark trial about the alleged harms of social media on young users, with Meta and, for the first time, Snap as defendants.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
“What if the gardener’s intention is good, but his hand harms the plant he nurtures?”
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
The months-long blazes have engulfed huge tracts of land and produced air pollution that has harmed human health, drifted across borders and frayed Indonesia's ties with its neighbours.
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026
“I am deeply distressed,” she said, expressing concern for any children who may have been harmed.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026
Privacy violations and persistent allegations that its platforms harmed users have made many people wary of the company and Zuckerberg.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
He added that if all four were returned alive, without being harmed, "everything will go back to how it was before the kidnapping".
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
He was now more determined than ever to get justice for Javier, for Reg and Shawna, for every person who had been harmed by the monsters who worked in the building behind him.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
Cameron said he expects a "backlash" over moves seen as harming the environment.
From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026
The amount of time children in England spend on screens at school could be harming their "physical and developmental health", a group of more than 150 clinicians has warned.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
A major new lawsuit argues the state is taking far too much water out of the Delta, harming native fish and the ecosystem, causing toxic algae blooms, and threatening local farms and communities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
The excess immune cells can then die through apoptosis, a controlled form of programmed cell death that allows the body to remove unneeded, damaged or cancerous cells without causing inflammation or harming nearby tissue.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
“And they were harming no one. Why waste your money on killing animals who don’t need killing?”
From "Willodeen" by Katherine Applegate
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
