Meaning
伤害 means to cause physical or emotional harm to someone or something. As a verb, it describes the action of hurting or damaging; as a noun, it refers to the harm or injury itself. It's commonly used for both physical injuries and psychological or emotional wounds.
Usage
伤害 is used in both formal and informal contexts. It often appears in discussions about relationships, accidents, and conflicts. When referring to emotional hurt, it's very common in phrases like 受到伤害 (to be hurt/injured). For physical harm, it can overlap with 受伤, though 伤害 emphasizes the act of causing harm while 受伤 focuses on being injured.
Examples
- 01他的话深深地伤害了她的感情。.His words deeply hurt her feelings.
- 02吸烟会伤害你的健康。.Smoking will harm your health.
Characters
Common collocations
- 受到伤害to suffer harm, to be hurt
- 造成伤害to cause harm
- 身体伤害physical harm
- 心理伤害psychological harm
Antonyms
Origin
Both characters relate to harm: 伤 (injury/wound) combines the person radical 亻with a phonetic component, while 害 originally depicted a house with obstacles underneath, symbolizing harm or obstruction. Together they create an intensified meaning of causing damage.