hurtful

adjective

1. 1

   Tending to impair or damage; injurious; occasioning loss or injury.

   A good principle not rightly understood may prove as hurtful as a bad.

   Well-cultivated soils are often healthy; nor at present has it been proved that the use of manure is hurtful.

2. 2

   Tending to hurt someone's feelings; insulting; lacerating.

   Both men and women can be emotionally abusive. Even in the healthiest relationships, people occasionally reach down into their personal bags of known remembrances, past disagreements, and unresolved issues, and fling hurtful comments at their partners.

   Better yet, maybe she should call and apologize for all of the rude comments she spewed in the midst of her anger—hurtful comments that should never be spoken between a wife and her husband.

   This mentality made me an incredibly hurtful person, but I wasn't concerned with how others felt about me.

   She told CNN’s State of the Union show: “His [Donald Trump's] remarks, of course, have been hurtful … the most hurtful thing he said, which is absolutely untrue, is he called me a traitor and that is so extremely wrong.”

Forms

comparative

more hurtful

superlative

most hurtful