mar

1 of 4

verb

ˈmär 

marred; marring

transitive verb

1

: to ruin or diminish the perfection or wholeness of : spoil

… whose life has been marred by problems with drugs …

—William Plummer

their relations were marred by disgraceful conflicts

—L. W. Beck

the race was marred by a 23-car pileup

—Mike Harris

2

archaic

a

: to inflict serious bodily harm on

b

: destroy

mar

2 of 4

noun

: something that mars : blemish

mar

3 of 4

abbreviation (1)

maritime

Mar

4 of 4

abbreviation (2)

March

Synonyms of mar

Verb

• taint
• spoil
• stain
• darken
• poison
• tarnish
• touch

Noun

• defect
• scar
• blotch
• mark
• stain

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

Instead, events appear to lie in political opportunism in the wake of an election marred by flaws and allegations of illegitimacy. —John Joseph Chin, The Conversation, 1 Dec. 2025

In a Missouri football performance marred by uninspired passing and special teams miscues, Coleman gave the Tigers a big special-teams play — a 67-yard punt-return touchdown with just over eight minutes to play in the fourth quarter. —Maddie Hartley, Kansas City Star, 30 Nov. 2025

Some village buildings had been blasted open during the war, others marred by graffiti left by fighting groups passing through. —Emily Feng, NPR, 25 Nov. 2025

But the case had also been marred by questions over whether the charges were politically motivated and procedural issues with the prosecution. —Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 24 Nov. 2025

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

Rhymes for mar

• ar
• are
• bar
• barr
• car
• carr
• char
• charr
• czar
• far
• farre
• haar

Kids Definition

mar

verb

ˈmär

marred; marring

: to make a blemish on : spoil