harm
noun
physical injury or mental damage; hurt.
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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:
"FSSF did not provide detainees with sufficient living space, creating cramped conditions for detainees who spent most of their time in their housing units, which may harm detainees' physical and mental health," the report said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026
But he was always conscious that he never wanted to harm the animals as part of his project.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
"It depends on the area where the wreck and munitions lie. Currents and seabed morphology play a major role. In some cases, detonating them can do more harm than good," she explains.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
It’s easy to read the report and come away with the idea that eating too many granola bars or bags of pretzels could be doing harm to your family without you realizing it.
From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2026
‘My clan is friendly with the Otters. We – we mean you no harm.’
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
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
They should be able to do so with a realistic understanding of both its potential value and its potential harms.
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
"Once a fire becomes uncontrolled, it harms many people. Not just humans, but also animals and plants," Sujatmoko says.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
“It’s absolutely a problem, and one that harms not only individual users but society as a whole,” Shams told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
But in recent years, public pressure has compelled city leaders to think more critically about whether enforcement can continue without the historical harms that has come along with it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
“How come this one walks in daylight? I thought they could only walk at night? There’s one that kept stealing some seeds from my nali’s cornfield. I think sunlight harms it.”
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
Lawyers for the baby's family said the test results "provided the clearest opportunity to detect and stop Letby" and were "a bright line within the chronology after which no babies should have been harmed".
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
There’s a business case for accuracy: In its S-1 filing, the company notes if the ring fails to provide reliable metrics, its reputation could be harmed, and drive away users.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
Just last week, Meta agreed to pay $17 billion to settle claims by 29 states that Facebook and Instagram harmed young users while also agreeing to new child-safety measures on the platforms.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
"We have not been harmed or harassed, but there is a general feeling of anxiety. That's natural during wartime," he told AFP at Kuwait City's gold market.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
Anyone, even of their own number, who had harmed it would have been severely punished.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
At the behest of local vegetable growers and processors, the Liberal government asked the trade tribunal this year to investigate whether imports of foreign canned vegetables were harming Canada’s food sector.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
But stunningly high numbers of women report having intrusive thoughts about harming their children—moments when their own brains betray them, when it’s clear that none of us are in total control over our own minds.
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2026
“It feels like we have enough data to say this policy isn’t doing anything but harming low-income Black families, and white families too,” she said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
Warmer oceans can have wide-reaching consequences, including supercharging extreme weather, raising sea levels and harming marine life.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
The more I thought about anything harming them, the madder I got.
From "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls
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.
