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.
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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
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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:
The sharp pain of the wound may heal, but the scar remains—and we must all find a way that the broken heart can both feel the truth of its brokenness and emerge enlarged and reshaped.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
"A deep scar" is how he explained his mental state.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
The year after that, heavy rains pummeled the burn scar, burying buildings and vehicles under mud and debris.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
England winger Bukayo Saka says the team are still carrying the "scar" of their heartbreaking World Cup semi-final exit to Argentina.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 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
Researchers had previously used EMR to reshape cartilage-rich rabbit ears and to modify scars and skin in pigs.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 29, 2026
A new scientific study has now provided the first evidence that eco-moorings can help restore seagrass, with some scars shrinking by more than 90% over four years.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
The scars lasted for decades, especially for the families of those killed, or those who were there and survived.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Even now, with fighting centered away from Khartoum, the scars persist: Almost no structure, be it the multistory gold souq, the national cinema or the four museums in the capital, stands unscathed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
His pain was soon gone, and he had no puckered scars.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
Nina Snow, the novel’s heroine and conscience, is scarred by the Bosnian wars of the 1990s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Now, standing above the scarred banks of the river in Nuwakot district more than a week after the disaster, Dawadi described himself simply as "a principal without a school".
From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026
However, Mac Cionnaith said the people of the Garvaghy Road have been scarred by events of the past and do not want another Drumcree parade.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
Nontheless, scarred by the devastation of the 2025 Palisades fire, 2024 Franklin fire and 2018 Woolsey fire, Malibuites take fire safety seriously.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Herbert Richardson was a Vietnam War veteran whose nightmarish experiences in brutal conditions left him traumatized and scarred.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
After doing so, they observed reductions in fat accumulation, inflammation and scarring.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 3, 2026
Visible pores, blackheads, blemishes, pigmentation, redness and scarring are all very normal for teenage skin, says Dr Kentley.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
This can lead to more serious health issues including scarring and narrowing of the esophagus, or even tearing in the esophagus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Flash flooding in Arizona recently swept through the Grand Canyon, killing at least two people, a weather event that was exacerbated by wildfire scarring, drought and warming temperatures in the Pacific Ocean.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026
I inspected Anatole’s special kind of face scarring instead.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
