detrimental

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin *dētrīmentālis, from Latin dētrīmentum (“harm”), from dēterō (“to rub off, wear”), from dē- (“down, away”) + terō (“to rub or grab”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌdɛtɹɪˈmɛntəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

detrimental (comparative more detrimental, superlative most detrimental)

1. Causing damage or harm.

   Synonyms: harmful, damaging, injurious; see also Thesaurus:harmful

   Antonym: beneficial

   Smoking tobacco can be detrimental to your health.

   • 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “(please specify the page)”, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, pages 142–143:

     "The fact is," continued he, "Lady Anne fears that my visits here may prove detrimental to what she considers your best interests. I thought myself an old, safe friend; but, as that cannot be explained to every body, she fears that I may keep off other and more eligible lovers."

   • 1955 June, “Notes and News: Redundant Branches and Stations”, in Railway Magazine, page 434:

     It agrees that redundant services should not be continued but is not unmindful of the fact that too much retrenchment of rail services now may ultimately prove detrimental to the economy of the country.

   • 2023 July 26, 'Industry Insider', “Ticket offices RIP?”, in RAIL, number 988, page 68:

     Decisions made at the DfT inevitably reflect a London-centric experience, with a comparison being made with the closure of ticket offices throughout the London Underground network. This is not judged to have been detrimental, but there is a simple zonal fares system that is hardly comparable with the range of ticket types used on the national rail network.

Derived terms

• detrimentally
• detrimentalness
• nondetrimental
• undetrimental

Related terms

• detriment

Translations

causing damage or harm

• Arabic: ضَارّ (ḍārr) مُضِرّ (muḍirr)
• Armenian: վնասակար (hy) (vnasakar), վնասաբեր (hy) (vnasaber)
• Azerbaijani: ziyanverici (az), zərərverici (az), zərərli, ziyanlı, ziyankar
• Bengali: ক্ষতিকারক (bn) (khotikarok), ক্ষতিকর (bn) (khotikor)
• Bulgarian: вреден (bg) (vreden), увреждащ (bg) (uvreždašt)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 有害的 (zh) (yǒuhài de)

• Danish: skadelig (da)
• Dutch: schadelijk (nl), nadelig (nl)
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: vahingollinen (fi), haitallinen (fi)
• French: nuisible (fr), néfaste (fr)
• Georgian: საზიანო (saziano)
• German: schädlich (de), abträglich (de)
• Greek: επιβλαβής (el) (epivlavís)
• Hebrew: מזיק (mazík)
• Hungarian: ártalmas (hu), káros (hu), kártékony (hu)
• Ingrian: vrednoi
• Irish: aimhleasach, díobhálach, dochrach
• Italian: dannoso (it), lesivo (it)
• Japanese: 害する (ja) (がいする, gai suru), 損なう (ja) (そこなう, sokonau), 有害な (ja) (ゆうがいな, yūgai na)
• Korean: 해로운 (ko) (haeroun)
• Lithuanian: nuostolingas
• Maori: whakawhara
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: skadelig (no)

  Nynorsk: skadeleg

• Portuguese: danoso (pt), prejudicial (pt)
• Romanian: dăunător (ro), vătămător (ro)
• Russian: вре́дный (ru) (vrédnyj), вредоно́сный (ru) (vredonósnyj)
• Spanish: dañino (es), perjudicial (es), detrimental (es)
• Swedish: skadlig (sv)
• Turkish: zararlı (tr)
• Ukrainian: шкідли́вий (škidlývyj)

Noun

detrimental (plural detrimentals)

1. Anything harmful.
   • 2012, Dr. Frank Springob, Bugs in My Brain, Poison on My Plate, page 137:

     The definition of a parasite is a microbe that lives in you or on you to its benefit and to your detriment. In other words, the detrimentals suck the life out of you.

   • 2022, M. E. Braddon, Beyond These Voices:

     I'm afraid it may be the detrimentals, the poets, and æsthetes, and impressionist painters, who will rave about her.

Further reading

• “detrimental”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “detrimental”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /detɾimenˈtal/ [d̪e.t̪ɾi.mẽn̪ˈt̪al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: de‧tri‧men‧tal

Adjective

detrimental m or f (masculine and feminine plural detrimentales)

1. detrimental

   Synonym: perjudicial