martyr

American  

[mahr-ter] / ˈmɑr tər /

noun

1. a person who willingly suffers death rather than renounce their religion.

2. a person who is put to death or endures great suffering on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause.

   Her death has made her a martyr to the cause of social justice.

3. a person who undergoes severe or constant suffering.

   The patient was a martyr to severe headaches.

4. a person who seeks sympathy or attention by feigning or exaggerating pain, deprivation, etc.

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verb (used with object)

1. to persecute for supporting a belief or cause, especially by putting to death.

2. to torment or torture.

martyr British  

/ ˈmɑːtə /

noun

1. a person who suffers death rather than renounce his religious beliefs

2. a person who suffers greatly or dies for a cause, belief, etc

3. a person who suffers from poor health, misfortune, etc

   he's a martyr to rheumatism

4. facetious a person who feigns suffering to gain sympathy, help, etc

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verb

1. to kill as a martyr

2. to make a martyr of

Other Word Forms

• martyrish adjective
• martyrization noun
• martyrly adverb
• unmartyred adjective

Etymology

Origin of martyr

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun martir, marter, Old English martyr from Old French and Late Latin, from Late Greek mártyr, dialect variant of Greek mártys, mártyros “witness”; verb derivative of noun

Example Sentences

"Bakers died while making bread" in the village square and "municipal workers were martyred while using bulldozers", the 55-year-old said.

From Barron's

"The wife of the martyred supreme leader is alive, and the initial reports of her martyrdom were incorrect," it said.

From Barron's

"If one wants to be martyred, let him stay where he is... let him be martyred alone, why come to people who are already tired?"

From Barron's

Mohammad Mokhber, a former Iranian vice president, called the new supreme leader “the complete mirror of our martyred leader, Imam Khamenei.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Colbert refused to see himself as a martyr and began his acceptance by letting a bit of the air out of the award, named after a blacklisted journalist.

From Salon

Related Words

• scapegoat