disfigure
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
-
to spoil the appearance or shape of; deface
-
to mar the effect or quality of
Related Words
See mar.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of disfigure
1325–75; Middle English disfiguren < Anglo-French, Old French desfigurer, equivalent to des- dis- 1 + -figurer, verbal derivative of figure figure
Explanation
To disfigure something is to ruin its appearance, which is what would happen if you drew a big bushy mustache and a pair of antennae on the Mona Lisa. Unfortunately, disfigured people are almost always portrayed in the media as villains, or victims. The word does suggest a negative view of someone (after all, it doesn't just mean changing way something looks but specifically spoiling it). Organizations for disfigured people, however, like Changing Faces in England, have claimed the word as their own and use it proudly.
Vocabulary lists containing disfigure
Unit 1: Telling Details
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
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"Wild Animals Aren't Pets" and "Let People Own Exotic Animals"
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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.
Disfigure several of our rivers, and are not only a source of danger to navigation, but are liable to cause deposits which may hereafter render dredging necessary.
From Report on the Department of Ports and Harbours for the Year 1890-91 by Australia. Queensland. Department of Ports and Harbours
Disfigure, dis-fig′ūr, v.t. to spoil the figure of: to change to a worse form: to spoil the beauty of: to deform.—ns.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
These young and handsome men had seemed to grow Deformed and hideous—so doth foul black heart Disfigure man, till beauty all depart.
From Poems by Hugo, Victor
Deface, Disfigure "The walls of many public buildings are defaced by persons who desire that their names shall remain when they are gone."
From Slips of Speech : a Helpful Book for Everyone Who Aspires to Correct the Everyday Errors of Speaking by Bechtel, John Hendricks
Disfigure applies more generally to persons; deface, to things.
From Slips of Speech : a Helpful Book for Everyone Who Aspires to Correct the Everyday Errors of Speaking by Bechtel, John Hendricks
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.
