wounding
wounding Lexical Profile
wounding Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Causing emotional pain, distress, or offense to a person's feelings or pride.
"She found it difficult to forgive his wounding remarks about her early artistic efforts."
Inflicting a physical injury or bodily harm.
"The veterinarian treated the deer after a wounding encounter with a barbed fence."
• verb
To inflict a physical injury or emotional distress on someone (present participle of wound).
"He spoke without thinking, inadvertently wounding his colleague's pride during the meeting."
• noun
The act or an instance of inflicting a physical injury or emotional hurt upon someone; in law, an offense involving the breaking of the skin.
"In the legal system, unlawful wounding carries a severe penalty depending on the perpetrator's intent."
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived from Old English 'wundian' (to injure or lacerate), which comes from the noun 'wund' (wound), ultimately tracing back to the Proto-Germanic root '*wundo'.