mar

[mahr]

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verb (used with object), marred, mar·ring.

to damage or spoil to a certain extent; render less perfect, attractive, useful, etc.; impair or spoil: That billboard mars the view. The holiday was marred by bad weather.

to disfigure, deface, or scar: The scratch marred the table.

Origin of mar

before 900; Middle English merren, Old English merran to hinder, waste; cognate with Old Saxon merrian, Old High German merren to hinder, Old Norse merja to bruise, Gothic marzjan to offend

Related formsun·marred, adjectiveun·mar·ring, adjective

Synonyms for mar

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mar ON THESAURUS.COM

1, 2. flaw, injure; blot. Mar, deface, disfigure, deform agree in applying to some form of injury. Mar is general, but usually refers to an external or surface injury, if it is a physical one: The tabletop was marred by dents and scratches. Deface refers to a surface injury that may be temporary or easily repaired: a tablecloth defaced by penciled notations. Disfigure applies to external injury of a more permanent and serious kind: A birthmark disfigured one side of his face. Deform suggests that something has been distorted or internally injured so severely as to change its normal form or qualities, or else that some fault has interfered with its proper development: deformed by an accident that had crippled him; to deform feet by binding them.

Antonyms for mar

1, 2. enhance, adorn.

mar.

maritime.

married.

Mar.

March.

M.A.R.

Master of Arts in Religion.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for mar

sully, harm, wreck, tarnish, ruin, bruise, taint, impair, spoil, blight, stain, scar, deface, ding, blemish, disfigure, injure, bend, scratch, warp

Examples from the Web for mar

Contemporary Examples of mar

A steel bracelet on my wrists reads CPL BRIAN L. CHEVALIER - 14 MAR 2007 – DIYALA.
Memorial Days After Mourning Has Passed
Alex Horton
May 25, 2014
Pujol was offering a choice of tasting menus that evening: Mar (Surf) or Tierra (Turf).
Mexico City’s Magical Moment of Resurgence
Condé Nast Traveler
February 10, 2014
Decor426 Mar 8, 2008 I am in the same position as both of you.
Dad Just Moved In and He's Driving Me Insane
The Daily Beast
October 25, 2008

Historical Examples of mar

Yet, these afflictions were not the worst injuries to mar the girl convict's life.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
Now is the time for a determined stand; now can we make or mar ourselves.
Alice, or The Mysteries, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
The name is your own to make or to mar, and you ought to be proud to hand it down.
Hetty's Strange History
Anonymous
"Mar—" began Mandy Calline, looking at her mother appealingly.
Southern Lights and Shadows
Various
Among them was one which had been out in the campaigns of 1689 (Dundee's), 1715 (Mar's), and in 1745-6.
The Celtic Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 3, January 1876
Various

British Dictionary definitions for mar

mar

verb mars, marring or marred

(tr) to cause harm to; spoil or impair

noun

a disfiguring mark; blemish

Derived Formsmarrer, noun

Word Origin for mar

Old English merran; compare Old Saxon merrian to hinder, Old Norse merja to bruise

Mar

abbreviation for

March

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mar

Old English merran (Anglian), mierran (West Saxon) "to waste, spoil," from Proto-Germanic *marzjan (cf. Old Frisian meria, Old High German marren "to hinder, obstruct," Gothic marzjan "to hinder, offend"), from PIE root *mers- "to trouble, confuse" (cf. Sanskrit mrsyate "forgets, neglects," Lithuanian mirszati "to forget"). Related: Marred; marring.