mar

[ mahr ]
/ mɑr /

verb (used with object), marred, mar·ring.

to damage or spoil to a certain extent; render less perfect, attractive, useful, etc.; impair or spoil: That billboard mars the view. The holiday was marred by bad weather.
to disfigure, deface, or scar: The scratch marred the table.

Origin of mar

before 900; Middle English merren, Old English merran to hinder, waste; cognate with Old Saxon merrian, Old High German merren to hinder, Old Norse merja to bruise, Gothic marzjan to offend

SYNONYMS FOR mar

1, 2 flaw, injure; blot. Mar, deface, disfigure, deform agree in applying to some form of injury. Mar is general, but usually refers to an external or surface injury, if it is a physical one: The tabletop was marred by dents and scratches. Deface refers to a surface injury that may be temporary or easily repaired: a tablecloth defaced by penciled notations. Disfigure applies to external injury of a more permanent and serious kind: A birthmark disfigured one side of his face. Deform suggests that something has been distorted or internally injured so severely as to change its normal form or qualities, or else that some fault has interfered with its proper development: deformed by an accident that had crippled him; to deform feet by binding them.

OTHER WORDS FROM mar

un·marred, adjective un·mar·ring, adjective

Example sentences from the Web for marred

British Dictionary definitions for marred (1 of 2)

mar
/ (mɑː) /

verb mars, marring or marred

(tr) to cause harm to; spoil or impair

noun

a disfiguring mark; blemish

Derived forms of mar

marrer, noun

Word Origin for mar

Old English merran; compare Old Saxon merrian to hinder, Old Norse merja to bruise

British Dictionary definitions for marred (2 of 2)

Mar

abbreviation for

March