Synonyms

injure

American

[in-jer] / ˈɪn dʒər /

verb (used with object)

to do or cause harm of any kind to; damage; hurt; impair.

to injure one's hand.

Synonyms:

mar, break, ruin, spoil

Antonyms:

benefit
to do wrong or injustice to.

Synonyms:

abuse, maltreat
to wound or offend.

to injure a friend's feelings.

injure British

/ ˈɪndʒə /

verb

to cause physical or mental harm or suffering to; hurt or wound
to offend, esp by an injustice

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Synonym Usage

Injure, impair mean to harm or damage something. Injure is a general term referring to any kind or degree of damage: to injure one's spine; to injure one's reputation. To impair is to make imperfect in any way, often with a suggestion of progressive deterioration and of permanency in the result: One's health is impaired by overwork.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of injure

1575–85; back formation from injury (noun); replacing injury (verb)

Explanation

Injure means to hurt, physically or mentally. Lose a bet and you might injure or bruise your pride, but lose your footing and you could injure your body instead. When a player in a sport is injured, they leave the field to be examined by a trainer or a physician, to see how severe their injury really is. If you slip and fall on the ice, your mom might say, "Are you injured?" She doesn't mean a bruise–––she's talking about a broken bone or a sprained ankle. You can also injure or wound someone else. Insult your mother's cooking or tackle your little brother too roughly to the ground and you'll injure them, either emotionally or physically.

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Vocabulary lists containing injure

Lesson 1

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Vocabulary Review, Unit 4

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jur, jus, List 1

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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.

It hit a toolshed and did not injure anyone, although it was carrying explosives.

From Barron's • May 29, 2026

The Highway Code says dogs travelling in vehicles must be "suitably restrained so they cannot distract you while you are driving or injure you, or themselves, if you stop quickly".

From BBC • May 28, 2026

The team also reports that unpublished experiments found similar regenerative benefits after treatment with the chemotherapy drug 5-fluorouracil, which is commonly used against colon and pancreatic cancers but can also injure the intestinal lining.

From Science Daily • May 21, 2026

Federal prosecutors said while many people were peacefully demonstrating against immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles County last summer, some people sought to use violence to obstruct, impede or injure officers conducting the enforcement operations.

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026

The creases in his uniform look sharp enough to injure somebody.

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023