I. ˈinj(ə)rē, -ri noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English injurie, from Latin injuria, from injurus, injurius injurious, unjust, wrong (from in- in- (I) + -jurus, -jurius, from jur-, jus right, law) + -ia -y — more at just
1.
a. : an act that damages, harms, or hurts : an unjust or undeserved infliction of suffering or harm : wrong
take it as a personal injury — W.R.Inge
his tone was one of mingled admiration and injury — R.H.Davis
adding insult to injury
b. : a violation of another's rights for which the law allows an action to recover damages or specific property or both : an actionable wrong — distinguished from harm ; compare tort
c. obsolete : offensive or defamatory speech : insult
2. : hurt, damage, or loss sustained
with consequent injury to morale and efficiency — Adam Yarmolinsky
injuries to health
without injury to the concrete — J.R.Dalzell
suffered severe injuries in the accident
Synonyms:
injury , hurt , damage , harm , and mischief mean in common the act or result of inflicting on a person or thing something that causes loss, pain, distress, or impairment. injury is the most comprehensive, applying to an act or result involving an impairment or destruction of right, health, freedom, soundness, or loss of something of value
sustain a leg injury in a fall
mental or emotional upset is just as truly an injury to the body as a bone fracture, a burn, or a bacterial infection — G.W.Gray b. 1886
the fundamental skepticism … inflicts the most serious injury on both science and religion — W.R.Inge
such change is … a great injury to the child's independence and freedom from responsibility — Abram Kardiner
hurt applies chiefly to physical injury but in any application it stresses pain or suffering whether injury is involved or not
a would-be fighter … that gross, brutal frame was still capable of doing a great deal of hurt — Hamilton Basso
wrongfully withholding from him something which is his due … inflicting on him a positive hurt, either in the form of direct suffering, or of the privation of some good which he had reasonable ground, either of a physical or of a social kind, for counting upon — J.S.Mill
leaving forever to the aggressor the choice of time and place and means to cause greatest hurt to us at least cost to himself — D.D.Eisenhower
the dentist's drill may cause quite a hurt though it does no injury
damage applies to injury involving loss, as of property, value, or usefulness
the collision inflicted great damage on the car
realize the immense damage his action has done to the good name of America — H.J.Laski
enough damage to a watch so that it no longer keeps accurate time
harm applies to any evil that injures or may injure
the men were terrified of Yusuf's cruelty, and wanted to retreat out of harm's way — C.S.Forester
a well-founded apprehension of bodily harm is sufficient to justify the taking of life — H.W.H.Knott
a scandal may prove of great harm to a man's political career
mischief is used to avoid the suggestion or image of particular harm or injury, designating generally any misdoing or injury, especially irresponsible, and stressing the role of an agent, usually personal
the nearest policeman, who most likely won't turn up until the worst of the mischief is done — G.B.Shaw
he was most violent; if Captain Downing had not been there to restrain him, I vow he'd have done me a mischief — Max Peacock
a fence was defective, and the pigs straying did mischief to a trolley car — B.N.Cardozo
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: Middle English injurien, from Middle French injurier, from Latin injuriari, from injuria
obsolete : injure