hurts 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of hurt
1
as in aches
to feel or cause physical pain my head hurts a bad sprain that really hurts I hurt all over

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2
as in damages
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of don't worry that you'll hurt the new lawn by walking across it

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in injures
to cause bodily damage to the common belief that reading in poor light hurts your eyes

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in grieves
to feel deep sadness or mental pain I know you must be hurting from the cruel words they said

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hurts

2 of 2

noun

plural of hurt
1
as in pains
a state of great suffering of body or mind in her hurt she said a lot of things to her boyfriend that she didn't really mean

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in harms
something that causes loss or pain a totally baseless accusation that caused lasting hurt to his reputation

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hurts
Verb
Losing the ability to fly fast drones, by contrast, hurts Ukraine right now—and hands Russia an immediate advantage in the skies. — Steven John, Fortune, 19 Oct. 2026 Washington is coming off a brutal tie against the Giants (a game that somehow had even worse coaching) and, yes, the overtime hurts. — Dan Zaksheske Outkick, FOXNews.com, 18 Oct. 2026 Auchincloss said that approach hurts America’s competitiveness. — John Wilkerson, STAT, 15 Oct. 2026 As the saying goes, hurt people hurt people, and Pam hurts a whole lot of people. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 13 Oct. 2026 The Popular Party argues that regulation hurts investment when Spain needs hundreds of thousands of new homes. — Joseph Wilson, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2026 Pressed on whether a blanket characterization hurts his members, Steffee did not equivocate. — Salena Zito, Washington Post, 6 Oct. 2026 If a mistake is expensive and hard to reverse, slow down, because that is exactly where AI speed hurts you most. — Andrew Siemer, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026 There are larger forces at work, the stuff that hurts people who hurt people, and portraying that hurt (and its goal, escape) with understanding – not to say excuse-making – takes uncommon talent. — Greg Evans, Deadline, 28 Sep. 2026
Noun
So, hearing allegations of cockfighting nearby hurts, Ortiz said. — Larry Seward, CBS News, 6 Oct. 2026 The show thrives instead in the interpersonal details, particularly in the many small hurts that develop into injuries to the soul. — Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 1 Oct. 2026 But your grandmother was adamantly more than her hurts, more than her fear. — J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 29 Sep. 2026 This year, spooky season might feel legitimately haunted by the ghosts of hurts, betrayals, and resentments past. — Steph Koyfman, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Sep. 2026 That’s why losing her hurts so much Duncan Hines and Parton expanded the product line a year later, adding Dolly Parton's Buttermilk Biscuit Mix and Sweet Cornbread & Muffin Mix, plus a Fabulously Fudgy Brownie Mix and Caramel Turtle Brownie Mix. — Mike Snider, USA Today, 25 Aug. 2026 Both the people who were hurt and the people who caused those hurts had some amount of evolution. — Michelle Tea, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2026 The wounds and humiliations of private life can rarely be redressed by law; literature offers a parallel tribunal in which those hurts are litigated and, if possible, imaginatively overcome. — Charlie Tyson, The Atlantic, 27 Apr. 2026 Modern play calling insists on going for it on fourth downs, particularly in the opponent’s territory, because converting on fourth down helps more than failing to convert on fourth down hurts. — Jason Lloyd, New York Times, 5 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hurts
  1. aches
  2. damages
  3. injures
  4. grieves
  5. pains
  6. harms
  7. throbs
  8. mars
Verb
  • The majority of patients don't have symptoms, but about one in five will experience symptoms two to six days after being bitten, including fever, headaches, body aches, joint pain, diarrhea, vomiting or a rash.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Many infected people don’t get sick, but some experience fever, flu-like symptoms and — notoriously — aches.
    — Mike Stobbe, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of aches
Verb
  • Writing strips out the reactive tone that damages trust and forces people to engage with the actual argument instead of the way it was said.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The condition, in which reduced blood flow damages the optic nerve, can cause sudden and permanent vision loss.
    — Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of damages
Verb
  • The agency defines an attack as an incident where a bear injures or kills a person.
    — Lauren Penington, Denver Post, 21 Sep. 2026
  • This pest injures the host plant by using its piercing-sucking mouthparts to feed on plant sap.
    — Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of injures
Verb
  • Pi-o grieves the death of his friend, unable to get out of bed for days.
    — Kayti Burt, Time, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Kylie grieves over her comatose boyfriend, setting her on a journey to the English countryside in order to end the curse, and Antonia watches over Kylie’s beau in the hospital.
    — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of grieves
Noun
  • In the past, Fox News has taken pains to illustrate to its viewers how the election could tilt blue.
    — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Symptoms usually begin within two weeks and can last nearly three weeks, including aches and pains, nausea and rashes.
    — Angie DiMichele, Miami Herald, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of pains
Noun
  • Under the law, government agencies must identify and reduce harms of projects, and seek public input.
    — Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Apple has traditionally framed many of these harms as arising from particular apps and content.
    — Andrew R. Chow, Time, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of harms
Verb
  • The first is pique, a sharp, vinegary hot sauce that throbs with the heat of Thai chiles.
    — Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2026
  • The depression is a gritty-slick coating that constantly throbs against my thoughts and my insides.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 20 July 2026
Definition of throbs
Verb
  • Especially the guy who bangs a wrecking ball against the historic East Wing to make room for an incongruous ballroom monstrosity, who mars the sacred Oval Office with gold glitter and paves over the lovely Rose Garden.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
  • Jacob Whitehead Homophobic chant mars Mexico’s win Before the World Cup, the Mexican football federation launched a campaign that featured the heroes of the country’s 1986 World Cup side.
    — Jack Lang, New York Times, 26 June 2026
Definition of mars

Browse Nearby Words

hurtling
hurts
hurts (for)
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Cite this Entry

“Hurts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hurts. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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