【Injure】 , 【harm】 ,  【hurt】 ,  【damage】 ,  【impair】 ,  【mar】 ,  【spoil】  all mean to affect someone or something so as to rob it of soundness, strength, or perfection or to reduce its value, usefulness, or effectiveness.

【Injure】 in its earliest and still frequent sense means to do an injustice to or to wrong another (as by robbing him of his good name or of a rightful possession); in this sense it often suggests intent or knowledge on the part of one that injures.

The verb may also imply the infliction not of injustice but of something detrimental to one’s appearance, health, success, or comfort.

【Harm】  is more specific than  【injure】 in stressing the infliction of pain, suffering, or loss.

【Hurt】  usually implies the infliction of a wound whether to the body or feelings or to a thing capable of sustaining an injury; often, it is used where  【injure】 is also possible.

【Damage】 implies an injury that results in lowered value or involves loss in effectiveness, attractiveness, or efficiency.

【Impair】 , though coming close to  【damage】 in its meaning and often interchangeable with it, more frequently suggests deterioration or diminution (as in value, strength, or validity) or a weakening (as of a function or power of functioning).

【Mar】 implies the infliction of an injury that disfigures or maims or involves the loss of a thing’s perfection or well-being.

【Spoil】  (see also DECAY INDULGE ) carries a stronger implication of ruin than  【mar】 and suggests the operation of something that not only induces the impairment of strength, vigor, or value but also brings about their inevitable destruction.

【Injury】 ,  【hurt】 ,  【damage】 ,  【harm】 ,  【mischief】  mean the act or the result of inflicting on a person or thing something that causes loss or pain.

【Injury】 is the comprehensive term referable to an act or to a result of that act which involves a violation of a right or of health, freedom, and soundness of body or mind, or causes a partial or entire loss of something of value.

【Hurt】 , applies basically to a physical 【injury】 (as a wound, lesion, or contusion) that results from a hit, a stab, or a blow. In extended use  【hurt】  applies chiefly to an act or result that involves pain, suffering, or loss; thus, a person whose rights as an heir have been violated may be said to suffer an  【injury】  but not a  【hurt】 ; a person whose reputation has been damaged by a false rumor has suffered both an  【injury】  to his business and a  【hurt】  to his feelings; a dentist in drilling a tooth may cause a  【hurt】 , but not commonly an  【injury】 .

【Damage】 applies to an 【injury】 that involves loss (as in property, in value, or in usefulness).

【Harm】 (usually without an article) is referable to an evil that injures or may injure; often it suggests a consequent suffering (as grief or shame).

【Mischief】 carries a stronger reference to the person or thing that works 【harm】 or is capable of inflicting 【injury】 ; it applies either to the 【harm】 or 【injury】 that results from an agent or agency or occasionally to the aspect of a situation that causes 【harm】 or vexation.