What does injurious mean?
Injurious is a formal adjective meaning harmful or damaging, particularly to a person’s health, rights, property, reputation, or legitimate interests. It is often used in legal and institutional contexts, as in “injurious to public health” or “injurious treatment.” Unlike the broader everyday term “harmful,” injurious can imply a legally or morally significant negative effect. It may describe physical damage, unfair disadvantage, damage to reputation, or actions that violate rights. The word is related to “injure” and “injury,” and its relatively uncommon register gives it a formal, precise tone. It is most useful when describing a serious or consequential form of harm rather than a minor inconvenience.
adjectiveCausing harm or damage, especially to someone’s health, rights, property, reputation, or interests. The word is formal and is often used in legal and technical contexts.
- Causing harm, damage, or unfair disadvantage to a person, organization, property, reputation, or legal interest.
"The false allegations were injurious to the company’s reputation."
"The policy was criticized as injurious to the rights of small businesses."
"Prolonged exposure to loud noise can be injurious to hearing."
A single legal-sounding word can describe harm ranging from physical injury to damage done to a reputation.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does injurious come from?
Injurious comes from the Latin root injūria, meaning harm or injury, and is related to the English verb “injure” and noun “injury.” The suffix -ous forms an adjective expressing the quality of causing harm. The word has long been used in legal and formal writing, especially in phrases describing actions or conditions that are “injurious to” a person, interest, or institution.
Related word forms
How injurious is actually used
This is a formal word, especially common in legal, academic, and institutional writing. It is more emphatic and more specialized than the everyday word “harmful.”