MARTYRED Synonyms: 93 Similar and Opposite Words

martyred

verb

past tense of martyr

as in persecuted

to kill (someone) for refusing to give up a belief or cause

—usually used as (be) martyred He was martyred for his religious beliefs.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of martyred She was martyred and mortified and endured and rose again in the eyes of the people. — Literary Hub, 14 Apr. 2026 So did the entire first generation of Christians, many of whom were martyred. — Case Thorp, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 Apr. 2026 One of our colleagues has been martyred. — CBS News, 24 Mar. 2026 Porter need not be martyred like Good and Pretti. — Leonard Greene, New York Daily News, 7 Mar. 2026 Iran, with its sophisticated military, near-nuclear capability, proxy networks spanning the region and a regime now martyred by foreign attack, will likely not be the exception. — Farah N. Jan, The Conversation, 2 Mar. 2026 Khamenei, an ailing octogenarian, frequently spoke of his willingness to be martyred, and regime officials have claimed that Israel already tried to target them last summer, when Israel and Iran traded strikes in what would become known as the Twelve-Day War. — Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2026 And martyred, really, martyred for his beliefs. — Dallas Morning News, 25 Feb. 2026 So last year, Charlie was violently murdered by an assassin and martyred, really martyred for his beliefs. — Time Staff, Time, 25 Feb. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for martyred

Verb

The Washington Principles also recognize that many sales of artwork by Jews during the Nazi era occurred while they were being persecuted, or under duress.

— Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 29 June 2026
Representatives of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine have been persecuted.

— Mark Temnycky, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026

Definition of persecuted

Verb

Walker was abducted, raped, tortured and murdered after attending a Valentine’s Day dance with her boyfriend.

— Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 5 July 2026
The actual abduction was committed, according to the feds, by supermarket owner Abu Chowdhury — who’s accused of heading a kidnapping ring that also snatched and tortured two men who crossed his vengeful wife, Iffat Lubna.

— John Annese, New York Daily News, 4 July 2026

Definition of tortured

Verb

So the next time your brand wants to bare its teeth, picture Mickey in his tuxedo being attacked by an oversized beaver.

— Roger Dooley, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
The suspect is believed to be a woman, but investigators have not ruled out the possibility that the teen was attacked by a man wearing women’s clothes, according to a law enforcement source.

— Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 10 July 2026

Definition of attacked

Verb

The three-paragraph note compared Lyons to a Nazi and predicted that Lyons would be tormented by his own conscience.

— Jude Joffe-Block, NPR, 6 July 2026
Tournament favorites France, for example, have so thoroughly taunted and tormented their opponents that anything short of the final would seem an injustice at this point.

— Mark Sappenfield, Christian Science Monitor, 30 June 2026

Definition of tormented

Verb

Roberts once signed on to a Kagan dissent that assailed the shadow docket.

— Ken B. Morales, ProPublica, 1 July 2026
It was passed following the signing of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which was implemented during the administration of then-President Barack Obama — an agreement Trump repeatedly assailed before pulling out of it in 2018.

— Daniel Flatley, Fortune, 28 June 2026

Definition of assailed

Verb

The afflicted slowly lose their ability to walk, talk, eat, dress, write, swallow and, eventually, breathe.

— Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 4 July 2026
Jude, meanwhile, was shifting from tossing cones to tugging at his ears, afflicted with the same malady that had landed several of the toddlers on the room’s version of the injury list.

— ABC News, ABC News, 30 June 2026

Definition of afflicted

Verb

The pseudonymous title character, a depressed, drunken, belligerent twenty-six-year-old advice columnist, has no real hardships of his own and is cursed by doubt.

— Hannah Jocelyn, New Yorker, 1 July 2026
Unlike Tithonus, cursed to age forever, electoral rules can and should be renewed.

— Peter Gosselin, Harpers Magazine, 30 June 2026

Definition of cursed

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martyrdoms

martyred

martyries

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“Martyred.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/martyred. Accessed 12 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of martyred

verb

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