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.

---

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

---

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

As the nation abandoned Reconstruction, a generation of politicians and historians recast Johnson as a martyr to congressional tyranny.

From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026

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

The episode helped forge the persona she would cultivate for decades: part street fighter, part martyr - a perpetual insurgent even in power.

From BBC ● May 5, 2026

But I wasn't going to martyr myself by suggesting it.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Individual members prosecuted were seen by themselves and the faithful as martyrs for the cause.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

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

They are just a few of the most famous martyrs of the movement that gave birth to the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

“We call them our martyrs and our heroes.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026

Her mother had nine children, all at the same time, four sets of twins and Wilgefortis the odd one, all winding up martyrs for the faith.

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

"Their uncles married them off very young. Do you know why? Because their father and mother were martyred, and their uncles wanted to get rid of the responsibility and expenses," the woman said.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

In doing so, he managed to breach the walls of the city electronically and turn his invisible eye into the world’s gaze on the martyred city.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

The martyred Monica has literally been transfigured into a saint.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026

"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 ● Mar. 12, 2026

“Some will say you were saints, martyred for your beliefs. But we will know the truth.”

From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz

“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

David Cronenberg’s “The Dead Zone” makes a curse out of a gift, martyring a man who can see the future at the price of his life.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 31, 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

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• scapegoat

---