martyr

American  

[mahr-ter] / ˈmɑr tər /

noun

• martyrs
  plural

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)

• martyrs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• martyred,
  past participle,  past
• martyring
  present participle

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• martyrs
  plural

Participles

• martyring
  present
• martyred
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• martyr
  simple
• martyrs
  simple
• have martyred
  perfect
• has martyred
  perfect
• am martyring
  progressive
• are martyring
  progressive
• is martyring
  progressive
• have been martyring
  perfect progressive
• has been martyring
  perfect progressive

Past

• martyred
  simple
• had martyred
  perfect
• was martyring
  progressive
• were martyring
  progressive
• had been martyring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will martyr
  simple
• will have martyred
  perfect
• will be martyring
  progressive
• will have been martyring
  perfect progressive

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

Explanation

Someone who suffers, or is even killed, for his or her political or religious beliefs is called a martyr. Martin Luther King Jr. is often called a martyr in connection with the American civil rights movement. A martyr is also someone who chooses to be put to death rather than renounce his or her religious beliefs, as the story of Saint Stephen tells. In the figurative sense, if you are a martyr to headaches, you suffer from them. Sometimes, martyr is used negatively to refer to someone who chooses to suffer when there is no need to do so.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

martyr martyrs martyred martyring

Her Elizabeth is neither martyr nor saint, just a woman who wants to live as she’s always lived for as long as she can.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

Becket thus became a martyr for the idea that you don’t render unto Caesar the things that are God’s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

A local newspaper quoted his mother, Sadaf Monfared, as saying the boy told her he "would like to become a martyr".

From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026

“Every martyr disappears into the cult of personality,” Sharlet said.

From Salon ● Jan. 6, 2026

He was a martyr and a hero to Castro and most Cubans.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Last year, he welcomed Toutou to the presidential palace as part of a ceremony honouring families of the "martyrs".

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

Slate spoke with a number of surviving family members of some of the martyrs of the Civil Rights Movement, all of whom were devastated by the court’s Callais ruling.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

“We call them our martyrs and our heroes.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026

The article suggested Christians should embrace nonviolent resistance and the tradition of martyrs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026

The priests never tell us about virgin martyrs like St. Agatha, February fifth.

From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt

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 ● Mar. 9, 2026

Iran's judiciary confirmed Sunday that the chief of the Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Pakpour, and another top security adviser, Ali Shamkhani, were also "martyred" in the strikes.

From Barron's ● Mar. 1, 2026

Making a profile documentary about the martyred Tejano music icon, whose life and career have already been the subject of a popular film and a scripted TV series, must be a daunting task.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2025

Dr. King was an American patriot who was martyred for trying to bend the arc of the moral universe to justice.

From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2025

He didn’t say yes, though, only crossed his arms over his chest and blew out a long, martyred sigh.

From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken

“I think he wanted something on his résumé, some way of martyring himself, so he could say ‘They’re out to get me.’”

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 5, 2023

Now they have jumped on the grievance train, martyring themselves for the cause:

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2021

Their happiness is paramount, though I am also not interested in martyring myself on the altar of motherhood.

From Slate ● Dec. 13, 2020

Jamie is the master of his fate, Jamie puts himself in harms way, Jamie is martyring himself, no one asked him to do all the things he does for others.

From New York Times ● Nov. 5, 2017

She sits down next to me, crunching and martyring her way through the bowl of dry cereal, eyeing my plate the whole time.

From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson

Related Words

• scapegoat