detrimental
Detrimental is a formal way of saying "harmful." Anything detrimental hurts, hinders, or puts a damper on something. Detrimental things do damage.
Have you ever heard "Smoking may be detrimental to your health" and wondered what it meant? It means that smoking is bad for your health: it's going to harm you in a bunch of ways. Detrimental is a more official, formal way of talking about things that do harm. A dog who likes digging holes can be detrimental to a garden. If you're writing a paper and want to pick an alternative to harmful that sounds more formal, detrimental is a great choice.
-
(sometimes followed by `to') causing harm or injurysynonyms: damaging, inimical, prejudicial, prejudiciousharmfulcausing or capable of causing harm
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
Vocabulary lists containing detrimental
In 1951, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) recruited 13 parents to file a class action suit on behalf of their children. The named plaintiff, Oliver Brown, was the father of a third grader who, denied admission to a neighborhood school because of his race, was forced to walk six blocks to take a bus to a black school. On reviewing the District Court's ruling based on the precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court decided that segregated public schools were unequal and unconstitutional. This led to the Civil Rights Act of 1957. These words are from the unanimous opinion written by Earl Warren. Read the full text here.
No time to scour the headlines or watch the news? No problem! We’ve rounded up the top words heard, read, debated, and discussed this week. This week showed that the time has passed for some old things, while some other old things endure. The provocative and polarizing Chief Wahoo, which has been the Cleveland Indian's mascot since 1947, will be retired in 2019. On the other hand, old man (in professional tennis terms, anyway) Roger Federer displayed his baffling durability by winning the Australian Open, his record 20th Grand Slam title. Take a look back at the week that was, vocabulary style.