From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhurtfulhurt‧ful /ˈhɜːtfəl $ ˈhɜːrt-/ ●○○ adjective UPSETmaking you feel very upset or offended SYN unkindhurtful remark/comment etc► see thesaurus at unkind —hurtfully adverb —hurtfulness noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
hurtful• Sufferers from Parkinson's disease are many, and their problems are hateful and hurtful.• Mrs Browning was as aware of this as Wilson and indeed appeared to find nothing hurtful in mentioning it.• This deliberate emphasis on the young people's unreliable and hurtful past relationships poses a dilemma for residential workers.• a hurtful remark• It was coming out too bound up in hurtful things.• Television plays hurtful tricks on people who watch it long enough.• That was very brutal and hurtful when I felt down.• It's hurtful when you see good actors out of work and the way in which their confidence is corroded by the system.• There was nothing remotely subversive about it, as far as I could see: hurtful, yes, but not subversive.hurtful remark/comment etc• No more hurtful comments about people's looks. 