harmful
harmful
Pronunciation
The IPA phonetic spelling for "harmful" is /ˈhɑːrmfəl/.
Here's a breakdown of the sounds by syllable:
harm
/h/ - voiceless glottal fricative
/ɑː/ - open back unrounded vowel (long 'a' as in "father")
/r/ - voiced alveolar approximant
/m/ - voiced bilabial nasal
ful
/f/ - voiceless labiodental fricative
/əl/ - syllabic lateral approximant (a schwa followed by an 'l' sound, often pronounced as a single syllable)
Word Form Variations
The term "harmful" is primarily an adjective. Its variations are limited as it doesn't typically have singular/plural forms like nouns, or different tenses like verbs.
Adjective: harmful
Adverb: harmfully (describes how something is done in a harmful way)
Noun (related concepts):
harm (the act or result of causing damage)
harmfulness (the quality of being harmful)
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
Adjective
harmful
Causing or likely to cause damage, injury, or detriment to someone or something.
Synonyms: detrimental, damaging, injurious, deleterious, noxious, adverse, unhealthy
Antonyms: beneficial, helpful, advantageous, benign, innocuous, salutary
Having a negative or disadvantageous effect on well-being, progress, or development.
Synonyms: detrimental, disadvantageous, adverse, counterproductive, prejudicial
Antonyms: beneficial, constructive, positive, advantageous, favorable
Examples of Use
Books: "The long-term effects of exposure to certain chemicals can be incredibly harmful to human health."
Newspapers: "A new study published today highlights the harmful impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems." ( The Guardian, June 2024)
Online Publications: "Misinformation spread on social media platforms can have a harmful effect on public trust and democratic processes." (The New York Times, May 2024)
Entertainment Mediums (Film/TV): In a documentary discussing climate change, a narrator might state, "The continued reliance on fossil fuels is having a harmful effect on our planet's atmosphere."
Entertainment Platforms (Video Games): A character in a game warning another might say, "Beware of that potion; it contains harmful toxins."
General Public Discourse: "Parents are increasingly concerned about the harmful content their children might encounter online."
10 Quotes Using Harmful
"Anger is an acid that can be more harmful to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured." - Mark Twain
"It is surely harmful to souls to make it a heresy to believe what is proved." - Galileo Galilei
"Your own mind is a sacred enclosure into which nothing harmful can enter except by your permission." - Arnold Bennett
"If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them." - Dalai Lama
"Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important." - T.S. Eliot
"Above all, we must avoid the pitfalls of tribalism. If we are divided among ourselves on tribal lines, we open our doors to foreign intervention and its potentially harmful consequences." - Haile Selassie
"To read too many books is harmful." - Mao Zedong
"Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us." - Voltaire
"The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding." - Albert Camus
"Smoking is hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, and dangerous to the lungs." - King James I
Etymology
The word "harmful" basically means "full of harm" or "causing harm." It's an adjective, which means it describes something.
Let's break down its history:
"Harm": The root of "harmful" is the Old English word "hearm," which meant "hurt, pain; evil, grief; insult." This word itself comes from an even older Proto-Germanic word "harmaz" which also carried similar meanings related to sorrow or pain.
"-ful": This ending is a common English suffix that means "full of," "having," or "characterized by." Think of other words like "beautiful" (full of beauty) or "hopeful" (full of hope). In Old English, "-ful" was originally a separate word ("full") that eventually attached itself to other words to form new ones.
So, when you put "harm" and "-ful" together, you get "harmful," meaning something that is full of harm or causes harm.
The first known use of "harmful" as we understand it today dates back to the mid-14th century, during the Middle English period. The Oxford English Dictionary specifically notes its earliest evidence as being from before 1340. So, people have been using this word to describe things that cause damage or injury for at least 700 years!
Phrases + Idioms Containing Harmful
Harmful side effects: A common phrase referring to negative consequences, especially in medicine or policy.
Harmful to one's health: A direct and frequently used expression.
Harmful to the environment: A widely recognized phrase in environmental discourse.
No more harmful than...: A comparative phrase, often used to downplay the severity of something by comparing it to something else considered equally or less harmful.
Potentially harmful: Indicates a risk or possibility of negative impact.
Avoid anything harmful: A general directive to steer clear of dangerous or damaging things.
Harmful influence: Referring to a negative impact on someone's character or behavior.
A harmful truth: An original phrase suggesting a truth that, despite being accurate, causes pain or damage.
To be on the harmful end of the stick: An idiom using a synonym ("detrimental") and adapting "the short end of the stick" to imply suffering negative consequences.
A harmful precedent: An original phrase suggesting an action or decision that sets a dangerous future example.
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of harmful from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
