scar
1 Americannoun
-
a mark left by a healed wound, sore, or burn.
-
a lasting aftereffect of trouble, especially a lasting psychological injury resulting from suffering or trauma.
-
any blemish remaining as a trace of or resulting from injury or use.
-
Botany. a mark indicating a former point of attachment, as where a leaf has fallen from a stem.
verb (used with object)
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scars,
present (3rd person singular)
-
scarred,
past participle, past
-
scarring
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
scars,
present (3rd person singular)
-
scarred,
past participle, past
-
scarring
present participle
noun
-
a precipitous, rocky place; cliff.
-
a low or submerged rock in the sea.
noun
-
any mark left on the skin or other tissue following the healing of a wound
-
a permanent change in a person's character resulting from emotional distress
his wife's death left its scars on him
-
the mark on a plant indicating the former point of attachment of a part, esp the attachment of a leaf to a stem
-
a mark of damage; blemish
verb
-
to mark or become marked with a scar
-
(intr) to heal leaving a scar
noun
-
an irregular enlongated trench-like feature on a land surface that often exposes bedrock
-
a similar formation in a river or sea
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
scarsimple
-
scarssimple
-
have scarredperfect
-
has scarredperfect
-
am scarringprogressive
-
are scarringprogressive
-
is scarringprogressive
-
have been scarringperfect progressive
-
has been scarringperfect progressive
Past
-
scarredsimple
-
had scarredperfect
-
was scarringprogressive
-
were scarringprogressive
-
had been scarringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scar1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; shortening of eschar
Origin of scar2
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English scarre, skerre, from Old Norse sker skerry
Explanation
A scar is a place where a wound healed but is still visible, or if you're little, it's a mark where a boo-boo was. Scar is from the Greek word eskhara, a "scab formed after a burn." It's all that and more. Scar can be a noun or a verb — you can have a scar on your knee after your skateboarding incident, and a bad round of chicken pox can scar you. Something scary can scar, you, too, like a horror movie or catching your parents in the act. Scars can be emotional. Take one letter off scare and you're left with a scar.
Vocabulary lists containing scar
Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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American Street
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Rather than rebuilding healthy muscle, the damaged areas accumulated fat and scar tissue.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 2, 2026
Like I said yesterday, the scar will stay.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
In addition to winning him the hand of Desdemona, they have left an invisible scar behind, a grievous case of post-traumatic stress disorder.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Now Reid, dressed in black with his chest partially exposed beneath an open jacket revealing a scar, stepped on stage and into the role of Lestat in front of the audience.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2026
She reached out a hand—but a man, a great rock of a person, nearly seven feet tall, with gold hoops in his ears and a burn scar on his neck, stepped closer to inspect it.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Yet, here, there are no visible stitches, no scars or seams.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
But many whales are also identifiable by their scars, including from collisions with everything from tankers, cargo and cruise ships to fishing boats and recreational vessels.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
Yet Liverpool fans, who still bear the scars of the Tom Hicks and George Gillette era, are viewing the potential high-profile investment cautiously.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
He’s got one foot on the so-called safe path — college, white-collar isolation — and the other on a career that’s already covering him in well-earned scars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
The scars from the war, which I felt so deeply, weren't visible in the passing landscape.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
Then, because the pills cost tens of thousands of dollars and could bankrupt budgets, state after state decided you couldn’t have the cure until your liver had scarred badly enough to prove you needed it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Even before ensnaring Ruffo, the ever-expanding huachicol fiscal scandal had already scarred the Mexican navy, long one of the nation’s most trusted institutions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
How unnerving that its creation scarred its creator.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026
And all are scarred by natural disasters that are becoming all too frequent as the world heats up.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
Though scarred and cracked, they were sculpted from years of hammering, chiseling, and fishing, and were twice the size of the foreman's.
From "Tiger Boy" by Mitali Perkins
When coal dust is repeatedly inhaled over time, it causes scarring in the lungs that makes it difficult to breathe.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
When cracks began scarring the structure and the front steps started to sink shortly after its 1922 opening, some people feared that nothing would stop the descent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
According to the outlet, Collins has permanent scarring on his pancreas, and his kidneys “barely” function.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
Giant hogweed contains a sap which can leave painful blistering and scarring when it comes into contact with human skin.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
“It’s just trying to be friendly. Look, it’s the same one that jumped over us. It has some kind of scarring on its back.”
From "The Boy Who Met a Whale" by Nizrana Farook
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.
