Arabic word sheet
ضَرٌّ
Harm, damage
- Type
- noun
- Root
- ض ر ر
Meaning and usage
Harm, damage
The hurt that is done or suffered, what damages or wrongs: it is the reverse of what is useful. It is used above all when set against usefulness.
خَافَ الْفَلَّاحُ ضَرَّ الْبَرْدِ عَلَى الزَّرْعِ.
The farmer feared the harm the cold would do to the crops.
Hardship (less common)
Less often, the state of someone who is badly off: want, misery or bodily suffering. This sense belongs mostly to the neighbouring form, said with another vowel.
Word family
What the root means ض ر ر
The root is about doing harm: hurting or damaging someone or something, the reverse of being useful. From it come the words for harm and damage, for a hard condition, and for a person who has lost his sight.
to harm, to damage
ضَرَّ
to do harm to
أَضَرَّ
damage, injury
ضَرَرٌ
distress, bad condition
ضُرٌّ
harmful thing, drawback
مَضَرَّةٌ
blind
ضَرِيرٌ
Synonyms
hurt, annoyance
Often lighter: an annoyance or a pain that one feels, whereas the headword means real loss or damage.
Opposites
usefulness, benefit
نَفْعٌ