mar

1 of 4

verb

marred; marring

transitive verb

1
: to ruin or diminish the perfection or wholeness of : spoil
whose life has been marred by problems with drugsWilliam Plummer
their relations were marred by disgraceful conflictsL. W. Beck
the race was marred by a 23-car pileupMike Harris
2
archaic
a
: to inflict serious bodily harm on
b

mar

2 of 4

noun

: something that mars : blemish

mar

3 of 4

abbreviation (1)

maritime

Mar

4 of 4

abbreviation (2)

March
Choose the Right Synonym for mar

injure, harm, hurt, damage, impair, mar mean to affect injuriously.

injure implies the inflicting of anything detrimental to one's looks, comfort, health, or success.

badly injured in an accident

harm often stresses the inflicting of pain, suffering, or loss.

careful not to harm the animals

hurt implies inflicting a wound to the body or to the feelings.

hurt by their callous remarks

damage suggests injury that lowers value or impairs usefulness.

a table damaged in shipping

impair suggests a making less complete or efficient by deterioration or diminution.

years of smoking had impaired his health

mar applies to injury that spoils perfection (as of a surface) or causes disfigurement.

the text is marred by many typos

Examples of mar in a Sentence

Verb A large scar marred his face. Her acting mars an otherwise great movie. Noun the Johnsons complained to the movers about broken dishes and mars on the furniture
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
This scrutiny of private builders but not of public officials has marred efforts to ensure accountability across the quake zone, said Emma Sinclair-Webb, the Turkey director for Human Rights Watch. Ben Hubbard, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024 While Picnic Day activities attract families on campus during the day and generally remain calm, the weekend has been marred in some years by off-campus parties that involved excessive drinking, rowdiness and fights in the downtown area. Ishani Desai, Sacramento Bee, 18 Apr. 2024 Tiger Woods at the Masters: A History of His Wins and Losses Woods’ career in recent years has been marred by injuries which have routinely forced him to withdraw from tournaments, including last year’s Masters tournament. Sean Neumann, Peoplemag, 15 Apr. 2024 On Tuesday, March 12, celebrations in Jerusalem were marred by the killing of a 12-year-old boy by Israeli border police in the Shuafat refugee camp, on the city’s edge. Sufian Taha, Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2024 Coaches offer dueling reactions after LSU-South Carolina near-brawl The ugliness that marred the end of the SEC tournament title game Sunday afternoon called for restraint, common sense and a dose of humility from both coaches. USA TODAY, 12 Mar. 2024 The Kremlin, hoping that no terrorist incident would mar the 2014 Winter Olympics, gave what was considered at least tacit approval for extremists from the Caucasus or from among the Central Asian immigrant communities in Russia to depart. Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2024 Western nations, including the United States, flocked to condemn the results, which were marred by protests and cases of voting fraud. Francesca Ebel, Washington Post, 18 Mar. 2024 The in memoriam sequence was, as is most often the case, marred by the extraneous performance — string players, interpretive dancers, the white-jacketed Oscars orchestra — that got in its way. Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mar.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun

Middle English marren, from Old English mierran to obstruct, waste; akin to Old High German merren to obstruct

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1551, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of mar was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near mar

Cite this Entry

“Mar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mar. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

mar

verb
ˈmär
marred; marring
: to make a blemish on : spoil

More from Merriam-Webster on mar

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!