hurt

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈhɜːrt/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/hɝt/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(hûrt)

Inflections of 'hurt' (v): (⇒ conjugate)
hurts
v 3rd person singular
hurting
v pres p
hurt
v past
hurt
v past p
WordReference Collins English Usage © 2025
hurt
Hurt can be a verb or an adjective.
used as a verb
If you hurt yourself or hurt a part of your body, you accidentally injure yourself. The past tense and -ed participle of hurt is hurt.
The boy fell down and hurt himself.
How did you hurt your finger?
If a part of your body hurts, you feel pain there.
My leg was beginning to hurt.
In American English, you can also say that a person hurts.
When that anesthetic wears off, you're going to hurt a bit.
Some British speakers also use hurt like this, but this use is not generally accepted in British English.
used as an adjective
You can use hurt as an adjective to describe an injured person.
He was hurt in a serious accident.
Luckily no-one was hurt but both vehicles were badly damaged.
If someone has a bad injury, don't say that they are ‘very hurt’. Say that they are badly hurt or seriously hurt.
The soldier was badly hurt.
Last year 5,000 children were seriously hurt in car accidents.
In British English you do not usually use ‘hurt’ in front of a noun. Don't, for example, talk about ‘a hurt soldier’. You say ‘an injured soldier’.
'hurt' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):

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