Bad and Harmful

Bad

Bad adjective - Causing or capable of causing harm.
Usage example: sitting too close to the television is said to be bad for the eyes

Harmful is a synonym for bad in help topic. In some cases you can use "Harmful" instead an adjective "Bad", when it comes to topics like attribution, detrimental. popular alternative

Nearby Words: badly, badness

Harmful

Harmful adjective - Causing or capable of causing harm.
Usage example: DDT has been proven to be extremely harmful to the environment

Bad is a synonym for harmful in help topic. You can use "Bad" instead an adjective "Harmful", if it concerns topics such as attribution, injurious, detrimental. popular alternative

Both words in one sentence

  • Lovecraftian Superpower If the power is used by one of the good guys, the power is shown to be bad or harmful in some way, be it to themselves, others, or the universe in general.
  • Solid Snake smokes in many of the Metal Gear games, and it's frequently observed (by other characters as well as by in-game text) that this is bad and harmful to him.
  • Functional Magic aka: Magic Felix defines it as an elemental, ambient force manipulated via metaphors; there can be good metaphors, or harmful metaphors, but bad metaphors simply won't work.
Cite this Source
Harmful and Bad. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/bad/harmful
Bad & Harmful. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/bad/harmful>.
Harmful or Bad. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/bad/harmful.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "bad" and "harmful" have occurred on timeline