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.
maritime.
married.
What does mar mean? To mar something is to damage, spoil, deface, disfigure, or scar it—either literally (such as by scratching or making a mark on an object) or figuratively (such as by spoiling a party by getting into an argument). Mar is used somewhat more formally than many of its synonyms. Whether used literally or figuratively, it always refers to spoiling something by making it worse or less perfect than it was. Its figurative sense is more often used in writing (especially journalism) than in everyday speech. Mar can also be used as a noun, meaning a blemish, but this is less common. Example: The senator’s campaign event was unfortunately marred by people who wanted to disrupt the event by interrupting her speech.
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.
First recorded 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”
A mar is a flaw, mark, or blemish, like a deep scratch on a wooden table. As a verb, to mar is to make such an imperfection — like the pen mark that mars your crisp, white shirt. We often think of things that mar as immediately noticeable, like scratches, scars, and blemishes, but sometimes mar describes other ways of ruining something. For example, an unexpected run-in with a difficult person can mar your relaxing day at the beach, just as an unpleasant memory can mar a peaceful state of mind. The thing to remember is, it only takes one scratch, one mean comment, or one negative experience to mar something that is otherwise fine.
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Marriott International MAR 2.10%increase; green up pointing triangle raised its outlook after logging higher first-quarter sales and as travel demand remains stable.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026
DEL MAR — Walking around a race track with Bob Baffert is like taking a master class in public relations.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 1, 2024
MAR 12: Ant flags a set of financial self-discipline rules, including avoiding its consumer loan platforms from granting loans to minors, and preventing small business loans from flowing into stock and property markets.
From Reuters • Jun. 9, 2022
“Instead it read: KEN WIL YOU MAR ME?” she said.
From New York Times • Apr. 15, 2022
A king, for instance, who would abolish taxes and make everything cheap, except gondolas— MAR.
From The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan by Gilbert, W. S. (William Schwenck), Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
