English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English harmful, from Old English *hearmful (suggested by hearmfullīċ (harmful; hurtful)), equivalent to harm +‎ -ful.

Cognate with German harmvoll, Danish harmfuld, Swedish harmfull.

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

harmful (comparative harmfuller or more harmful, superlative harmfullest or most harmful)

  1. Causing or likely to cause harm or damage; injurious.
    Wear a hat to protect your skin from harmful sunlight.
    Smoking is harmful to the lungs.
    Burning fossil fuels is harmful to the environment.

Synonyms edit

Antonyms edit

Derived terms edit

Collocations edit

Translations edit

See also edit