injury

[ in-juh-ree ]

noun

, plural in·ju·ries.

1. harm or damage that is done or sustained:

   to escape without injury.

   Synonyms: mischief, impairment, ruin, destruction

   Antonyms: benefit

2. a particular form or instance of harm:

   an injury to one's shoulder; an injury to one's pride.

3. wrong or injustice done or suffered.
4. Law. any wrong or violation of the rights, property, reputation, etc., of another for which legal action to recover damages may be made.
5. Obsolete. injurious speech; calumny.

injury

/ ˈɪndʒərɪ /

noun

1. physical damage or hurt
2. a specific instance of this

   a leg injury

3. harm done to a reputation
4. law a violation or infringement of another person's rights that causes him harm and is actionable at law
5. See insult
   an obsolete word for insult

Other Words From

• non·inju·ry noun plural noninjuries
• re·inju·ry noun plural reinjuries
• self-inju·ry noun plural selfinjuries

Word History and Origins

Origin of injury¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English injurie, from Latin injūria “unlawful conduct, injustice,” equivalent to in- in- ³ + jūr-, stem of jūs “right, law” ( jus, just ¹ ) + -ia -ia

Word History and Origins

Origin of injury¹

C14: from Latin injūria injustice, wrong, from injūriōsus acting unfairly, wrongful, from in- ¹+ jūs right

Idioms and Phrases

see add insult to injury .

Synonym Study

Injury, hurt, wound refer to impairments or wrongs. Injury, originally denoting a wrong done or suffered, is hence used for any kind of evil, impairment, or loss, caused or sustained: physical injury; injury to one's reputation. Hurt suggests especially physical injury, often bodily injury attended with pain: a bad hurt from a fall. A wound is usually a physical hurt caused by cutting, shooting, etc., or an emotional hurt: a serious wound in the shoulder; to inflict a wound by betraying someone's trust.

Example Sentences

Last year, Neuralink showed a product designed to eventually treat those with traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries.

From Fortune

Having said all that, it’s the second problem—injury risk—that makes the new paper most interesting.

From Outside Online

Deep brain stimulation, or treatment via electrodes implanted into the brain, is already used for traumatic brain injuries.

From Fortune

A study of 5,000 patients published June 11 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation found serious adverse events, such as allergic reactions or transfusion-related lung injury, occurred less than 1 percent of the time.

From Science News

Suárez is fully recovered from a late winter shoulder injury.

From FiveThirtyEight

It was like a constant assault, an almost stupefying catalogue of mindless racial insult and injury.

From The Daily Beast

And thus I end up at the bottom of the stairs, about one month after my injury and two months after my wedding.

From The Daily Beast

Insult to injury, its $43 million gross was less than one-fifth of what Ted took in.

From The Daily Beast

First he served 90 days in solitary for breaking the rule against self-injury.

From The Daily Beast

A football player killed himself after saying he was ‘all f----- up’ from a head injury.

From The Daily Beast

It was in the reading-room at the time of the fire, but fortunately escaped injury.

From Project Gutenberg

The law only gave you the right to proceed against him to recover money damages for the legal injury.

From Project Gutenberg

He is shining black, and as he tosses his head one can see the wicked horns, capable of doing such terrible injury.

From Project Gutenberg

When the sailors are employed in shifting the sails, great care must be taken to avoid injury by the falling of any of the ropes.

From Project Gutenberg

An automobilist must exercise reasonable or ordinary care to avoid injury to other persons using the highway.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• abuse
• bruise
• burn
• cramp
• cut
• damage
• fracture
• laceration
• loss
• scar
• shock
• sore
• sprain
• suffering
• swelling
• trauma
• wound