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

Verb

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

Noun

• blemish
• blight
• blotch
• defect
• deformity
• disfigurement
• excrescence
• excrescency
• fault
• flaw
• imperfection
• mark
• pockmark
• scar

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

Sadly, the price of an alternative school was too high, and she was forced to send her children to public schools marred by gang violence and bullying. —Matt Robison, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 May 2025

Samantha Lawler, an astronomer at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, says that many of her images are marred by satellites crossing her plane of view. —Jonathan O'Callaghan, Scientific American, 28 Apr. 2025

Oracle has struggled with a thorny, years-long EHR rollout with the Department of Veterans Affairs, marred by patient safety concerns. —Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 28 Apr. 2025

The agency head said a $20 billion Biden climate program was marred by fraud and abuse. —Catrin Einhorn, New York Times, 22 Apr. 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