different between harmful vs detestable

English

Alternative forms

• harmfull (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English harmful, from Old English *hearmful (suggested by hearmfull?? (“harmful; hurtful”)), equivalent to harm +? -ful.

Cognate with German harmvoll, Danish harmfuld, Swedish harmfull.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?h??mfl?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?h??mfl?/

Adjective

harmful (comparative harmfuller or more harmful, superlative harmfullest or most harmful)

1. of a kind likely to be damaging; injurious

   Wear a hat to protect your skin from harmful sunlight.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "harmful" is often applied: effect, consequence, impact, influence, emission, chemical, ingredient, substance, gas, agent, additive, drug, radiation, dust, organism, plant, animal, insect, action, act, behavior, component, content, activity, interference, use.

Synonyms

• injurious; see also Thesaurus:harmful

Antonyms

• beneficial
• harmless

Translations

See also

• harm

English

Etymology

From Middle French détestable; surface analysis detest +? -able.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??t?st?bl?/
• Hyphenation: de?test?able

Adjective

detestable (comparative more detestable, superlative most detestable)

1. Stimulating disgust or detestation; offensive; shocking.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "detestable" is often applied: crime, thing, practices, act, character, nature, person, conduct, villain, behavior.

Derived terms

• detestableness

Related terms

Translations

See also

• hateful
• abominable
• loathsome
• horrid

Anagrams

• seatbelted

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin d?test?bilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /detes?table/, [d?e.t?es?t?a.??le]

Adjective

detestable (plural detestables)

1. detestable