It’s a truism that in life we have to take the good with the bad, the ups with the downs, and the benefits with the … How can we finish this phrase? What are some of the opposites or antonyms of benefit that could fill in the blank? In this article, you will find plenty of options.
Benefit can be either a noun or a verb. When used as a noun, benefit means “something that is advantageous or good.” When used as a verb with an object it means “to do good to,” as in The park benefits the whole neighborhood. Benefit can also be used as a verb without an object to mean “to profit,” as in The broker benefited from the deal. We are going to look at a few of the antonyms or opposites of this multifaceted word. As you may have guessed, the opposites of benefit are all pretty negative.
Antonyms of benefit as a noun
drawback
One of the most familiar antonyms of benefit is drawback, “a hindrance or disadvantage; an undesirable or objectionable feature.” The origin of this word is the verb phrase draw back, meaning “to pull or take away.” While drawback is an everyday word, it has specific, technical meanings in commerce and taxation.
negative
A word that is synonymous with drawback is negative, which has a variety of meanings, but can be used as a noun to mean “a disadvantage.” You are likely familiar with negative as an adjective, as in He had a negative attitude. As a noun, negative is most often used with the indefinite article as in, We saw that as a negative.
Stay positive by learning whether optimistic and pessimistic are antonyms.
loss
A benefit is something that is gained. By contrast, a loss is a “detriment, disadvantage, or deprivation from failure to keep, have, or get.” The word loss comes from the Old English los, meaning “destruction.” The verb form of loss is lose, itself an antonym for the indirect verb form of benefit.
cost
As benefit is a word that describes a kind of transaction, it is unsurprising that it often pops up in business lingo. In a business context, one opposite of benefit is cost. Companies will conduct cost-benefit analyses to weigh the cost or “the price paid to acquire, produce, accomplish, or maintain anything” against the benefit of an action.
risk
In the medical field, the word risk is used to describe the opposite of benefit. Risk here means “exposure to the chance of injury or loss; a hazard or dangerous chance.” Risk-benefit analyses “establish whether the benefits, as of a course of medical treatment, outweigh the risks involved.” For example, if a drug has severe side effects, the risk may not be worth the benefit of treatment.
injury
We have seen how business and medicine have their own opposites of benefit. The legal profession has one as well: injury. You are likely familiar with the word injury as it is used in everyday English, to mean “harm or damage that is done or sustained.” But in the legal profession, injury specifically means “any wrong or violation of the rights, property, etc. of another for which legal action to recover damages may be made.”
con
Much like businesspeople, doctors, and lawyers, everyday people weigh both benefits and costs or pros and cons. Con literally means “the argument, position, arguer, or voter against something.” It is also used generally to mean “a negative.” Con comes from the Latin contrā, “in opposition, against.”
Antonyms of benefit as a direct verb
harm
The opposite of something that benefits people is something that harms them. The verb harm means “to injure; to damage.” The word harm is closely tied with the idea of doing evil to someone. We see this in the definition of harm as a noun: “moral injury; evil; wrong.”
hurt
Hurt, like benefit, is one of those verbs that can mean its inverse depending on whether it is used as a direct or indirect verb. When hurt is used with an object, it means “to affect adversely; harm,” as in Don’t hurt people. When used without an object, hurt can mean “to feel or suffer bodily or mental pain,” as in My feet hurt.
thwart
A slightly more sophisticated antonym for the verb benefit is thwart, meaning “to oppose successfully; prevent from accomplishing a purpose.” The word thwart comes from the Old Norse thvert “across.” A clearer sense of where the meaning of this word comes from a related Old English word, thweorh, meaning “crooked, cross.” In other words, crossing someone means thwarting their actions.
impede
Another verb that conveys a similar meaning as thwart is impede, “to retard in movement or progress by means of obstacles or hindrances; obstruct.” The word impede comes from the Latin impedīre, which figuratively means “to entangle.” Literally, however, the word means “to snare the feet,” as if by shackles.
hinder
The verb hinder is another synonym for thwart and impede. It literally means “to cause delay, interruption, or difficulty in.” Hinder comes from the Old English hindrian meaning “to hold back.” The noun form of this verb is hindrance, “an impeding stopping, preventing, or the like.”
These are just a few of the many opposites of benefit both as a noun and a verb. You can review all of them at our word list here. You can also test out the benefit of knowing all of these opposites with our quiz on all of these terms here.
