Definition of harmful Harmful

/hɑˈɹmfʌl/ - [harmful] - harm•ful

We found 5 definitions of harmful from 5 different sources.

What does harmful mean?

WordNet

Adjective harmful, harmfuller, harmfullest
harmful - causing or capable of causing harm; "too much sun is harmful to the skin"; "harmful effects of smoking"
		harmless not causing or capable of causing harm; "harmless bacteria"; "rendered the bomb harmless"
		destructive causing destruction or much damage; "a policy that is destructive to the economy"; "destructive criticism"
		disadvantageous constituting a disadvantage
		malign evil or harmful in nature or influence; "prompted by malign motives"; "believed in witches and malign spirits"; "gave him a malign look"; "a malign lesion"
		noxious injurious to physical or mental health; "noxious chemical wastes"; "noxious ideas"
		offensive unpleasant or disgusting especially to the senses; "offensive odors"
		painful causing physical or psychological pain; "worked with painful slowness"
		toxic of or relating to or caused by a toxin or poison; "suffering from exposure to toxic substances"
		unwholesome detrimental to physical or moral well-being; "unwholesome food"; "unwholesome habits like smoking"
		abusive characterized by physical or psychological maltreatment; "abusive punishment"; "argued...that foster homes are abusive"
		bad feeling physical discomfort or pain (`tough' is occasionally used colloquially for `bad'); "my throat feels bad"; "she felt bad all over"; "he was feeling tough after a restless night"
		bruising brutally forceful and compelling; "protected from the bruising facts of battle"
		deleterious, injurious, hurtful harmful to living things; "deleterious chemical additives"
		calumniatory, calumnious, defamatory, denigrating, denigrative, denigratory, libellous, libelous, slanderous (used of statements) harmful and often untrue; tending to discredit or malign
		catastrophic, ruinous extremely harmful; bringing physical or financial ruin; "a catastrophic depression"; "catastrophic illness"; "a ruinous course of action"
		counterproductive tending to hinder the achievement of a goal
		detrimental, damaging, prejudicial, prejudicious designed or tending to discredit, especially without positive or helpful suggestions; "negative criticism"
		ill presaging ill fortune; "ill omens"; "ill predictions"; "my words with inauspicious thunderings shook heaven"- P.B.Shelley; "a dead and ominous silence prevailed"; "a by-election at a time highly unpropitious for the Government"
		pernicious, insidious, subtle working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way; "glaucoma is an insidious disease"; "a subtle poison"
		mischievous deliberately causing harm or damage; "mischievous rumors and falsehoods"
		nocent having a tendency to cause harm