Something that is detrimentalto something else has a harmful or damaging effect on it.
...foods suspected of being detrimental to health. [+ to]
The government's policy of high interest rates is having a detrimental effect onindustry.
Synonyms: damaging, destructive, harmful, adverse More Synonyms of detrimental
detrimental in British English
(ˌdɛtrɪˈmɛntəl)
adjective
(whenpostpositive, foll by to)
harmful; injurious; prejudicial
smoking is detrimental to health
Derived forms
detrimentally (ˌdetriˈmentally)
adverb
detrimental in American English
(ˌdɛtrəˈmɛntəl)
adjective
causing detriment; harmful
SIMILAR WORDS: perˈnicious
Derived forms
detrimentally (ˌdetriˈmentally)
adverb
Word origin
see detriment
Examples of 'detrimental' in a sentence
detrimental
The detrimental effects of such solitude on health are well documented.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It's also had a significant and detrimental impact on the regional economy.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
Any suggestion of negative or detrimental treatment may lead to a valid claim for whistleblowing, where compensation is not capped and financial awards can be high.
Computing (2010)
These new tax plans will have a detrimental impact on their businesses and will hit them hard.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
This proved more detrimental to his chance than any perceived track bias.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
This first attempt at public subsidy did indeed have a detrimental effect on his plans.
Susie Gilbert and Jay Shir A TALE OF FOUR HOUSES: Opera at Covent Garden, La Scala, Vienna and the Met since1945 (2003)
That would be hugely detrimental to football.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The detrimental impact on public confidence in our system might have taken years to overcome.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Its closure has had a detrimental effect on the whole town centre.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
It may be that spices had a still more directly detrimental impact.
Jack Turner SPICE: The History of a Temptation (2004)
Increasing the age limit will have a detrimental effect.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
We will have to block it out as best we can if there is something that is detrimental to the team.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
More than a quarter of all services providers said that uncertainty around the referendum was having a detrimental impact on their business.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The worst imaginable scenario would be doing something detrimental to the team's performance.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
This Bill would have a significantly detrimental impact on the rights of women.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
A financial imbalance in the country has a detrimental effect on all aspects of economic and social life.
Aganbegyan, Abel Inside Perestroika: The Future of the Soviet Economy (1990)
Some detrimental effects were unavoidable.
Carpenter, Anne & Johnson, Geoffrey Why am I Afraid to Grieve (1994)
There are enough brownfield areas to site solar panels on this scale where they won't have the same detrimental visual impact.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The problem is that sometimes stretching, just before competition, may be detrimental.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Far from enhancing an applicant's chances, they will have a detrimental effect.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
To an extent, tighter bank regulation will have a detrimental impact on British services exports.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The national infrastructure is too often poor, which has a direct, detrimental impact on growth.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Concern that the elimination of West Indies would have a detrimental impact on the crowd proved well founded.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
A negative employee may have a detrimental effect on the workforce, spreading a feeling of discontent throughout the rest of the staff.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
But the problems have come one at a time and, although the cumulative effect has been detrimental, he has survived.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
If she had lost the case, it would have had a detrimental effect on her career; her integrity would have been called into question.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
I knew I was making a detrimental effect.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
In other languages
detrimental
British English: detrimental ADJECTIVE
Something that is detrimental to something else has a harmful or damaging effect on it.
...foods suspected of being detrimental to health.