detriment

noun

det·​ri·​ment ˈde-trə-mənt How to pronounce detriment (audio)
Synonyms of detriment
1
: injury, damage
did hard work without detriment to their health
He puts all his time into his career to the detriment of [= in a way that is harmful to] his personal life.
2
: a cause of injury or damage
a detriment to progress

Synonyms of detriment

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of detriment in a Sentence

opponents of casino gambling claim that it is a detriment to society at large the requirement that runners wear shoes for the race worked to his detriment since he was used to running barefoot
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
More recently, former 5 News presenter Claudia-Liza Vanderpuije sued ITN over allegations of sexism, racial harassment, unfair dismissal, and suffering a detriment due to exercising her whistleblowing rights. — Jake Kanter, Deadline, 13 Aug. 2026 Meanwhile, most of the industry's leading players contend that restricting use of the models would be to our own detriment and would place too much power in the hands of too few companies. — Jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 12 Aug. 2026 They were committed to that sense of camaraderie with their neighbors, even to their financial detriment. — Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026 The school districts’ joint lawsuit questioned the legality of the program and predicted immediate detriments to class sizes, staff recruitment and retention and student programming. — Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 7 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for detriment

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French, borrowed from Latin dētrīmentum "reduction in quantity, diminishment, harm, damage," from dētrī-, variant stem of dēterere "to wear away, rub off, lessen, impair" + -mentum -ment — more at detritus

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of detriment was in the 15th century

Phrases Containing detriment

Browse Nearby Words

detribalize
detriment
detrimental
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Detriment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/detriment. Accessed 21 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

detriment

noun
det·​ri·​ment ˈde-trə-mənt How to pronounce detriment (audio)
: injury or damage or its cause

Legal Definition

detriment

noun
det·​ri·​ment ˈde-trə-mənt How to pronounce detriment (audio)
1
: injury, loss
also : the cause of an injury or loss
2
: a giving up of a thing or mode of conduct to which one is entitled that constitutes consideration for a contract

called also legal detriment

detrimental
ˌde-trə-ˈmen-təl How to pronounce detriment (audio)
adjective
detrimentally adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on detriment

Nglish: Translation of detriment for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of rigmarole

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

How to Pronounce the Trickiest Menu Items

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All