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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Recent Examples of martyred
Charlie Kirk invited me to speak at Amfest a few weeks ago before he was martyred.
—
Mandy Taheri
jason Lemon, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Sep. 2025
His desperate, lacerating Teddy is a character who has ruined his own life, who has martyred himself out of his devotion to The Truth.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 28 Aug. 2025
But closer to me, and with greater incident, these phrases are inflected by the voice of Hiba Abu Nada, the Gazan poet who was martyred in an Israeli airstrike on October 20, 2023.
—Huda Fakhreddine
august 28, Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
Mandy Taheri
jason Lemon, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Sep. 2025
His desperate, lacerating Teddy is a character who has ruined his own life, who has martyred himself out of his devotion to The Truth.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 28 Aug. 2025
But closer to me, and with greater incident, these phrases are inflected by the voice of Hiba Abu Nada, the Gazan poet who was martyred in an Israeli airstrike on October 20, 2023.
—Huda Fakhreddine
august 28, Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for martyred
Verb
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This Committee was initially created during the McCarthy Era, a dark time when the federal government repressed and persecuted American citizens for their political beliefs.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
1 Oct. 2025
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Leatherface attacks, but the real villains turn out to be the townsfolk who persecuted the Sawyers after the original massacre.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
21 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Prosecutors said Grimes was beaten to death and tortured, suffering from multiple lacerations to her head, two black eyes, and a broken arm, ribs and nose.—
Christine Pelisek,
PEOPLE,
23 Sep. 2025
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Customers rarely remember the exact response time, unless they were tortured with on-repeat elevator music.—
Tayfun Bilsel,
Forbes.com,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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At least four people were killed and eight were injured after a gunman attacked a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints service in Michigan on Sunday morning, police said.—
Joe Hernandez,
NPR,
29 Sep. 2025
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Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy and Odesa were also attacked, President Voloydmyr Zelenskyy said in a post to Telegram.—
David Brennan,
ABC News,
28 Sep. 2025
Verb
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In his country home, he is tormented by the reality that there are too many, and more coming, as two cats are pregnant.—
Rebecca van Laer
September 30,
Literary Hub,
30 Sep. 2025
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Friday night was the final time the Giants will have to face Kershaw, a generational pitcher who tormented them for 18 seasons.—
Justice delos Santos,
Mercury News,
20 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The last northeastern gallery in this competition assailed Montgomerie so relentlessly during his match with Payne Stewart that the Scotsman’s father walked off the course on the front nine.—
Ian O'Connor,
New York Times,
24 Sep. 2025
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The media giant also has announced plans to acquire most of Fubo and combine the pay-TV operator with Hulu + Live TV, creating a formidable sports-centric combination that critics and at least one shareholder have assailed as a potential monopoly.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
20 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Subsequent names didn't stick either, despite cases of this unusual form of diabetes continuing to surface, especially in areas afflicted with malnutrition.—
Jonathan Lambert,
NPR,
29 Sep. 2025
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Just look at poverty, violence and health and housing inequities that have long afflicted Fairhill and West Kensington, two adjacent and heavily Puerto Rican neighborhoods in North Philadelphia.—
Héctor M. Varela Rios,
The Conversation,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Through the first-person narration of his protagonist, Nicholas, a teenager suddenly besieged by anxiety, Clune conveys with uncanny vividness what a panic attack feels like.—
Scott Stossel,
The Atlantic,
9 Sep. 2025
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Landslide in western Sudan kills at least 1,000 A landslide in western Sudan killed at least 1,000 people, intensifying hardship in a country besieged by years of civil war.—
Tasneem Nashrulla,
semafor.com,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Napoli’s coach cursed the fates.—
James Horncastle,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
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The safe housemates were Nancy and Cameron, while Emily, Sam, and Caroline were cursed with an evil eye.—
Armando Tinoco,
Deadline,
29 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Martyred.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/martyred. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
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