scarred

American  

[skahrd] / skɑrd /

adjective

1. having a scar left by a healed wound, sore, or burn.

   He is tall and well-built, with a badly scarred face where he was bitten by a shark.

2. experiencing the psychological aftereffects of suffering or trauma.

   The main character endures childhood abuse and grows up to be a deeply scarred individual who thinks the whole world is against him.

3. (of a wound, burn, etc.) having formed a scar in healing.

   As healing progresses, the patient must be weaned away from needing a gauze wrap on the closed, scarred wound.

4. blemished or marred as a result of damage or use.

   Empty corrugated-iron buildings lie amidst a scarred landscape full of rubble.

   They furnished their first apartment with a used desk, a badly scarred table, and two old chairs with rickety legs.

5. Botany. bearing a mark indicating a former point of attachment, as where a leaf has fallen off.

   As the dieffenbachia ages, some of the lower leaves dry up and fall off, leaving a scarred stem that gradually lengthens.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of scar.

Other Word Forms

• unscarred
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of scarred

First recorded in 1425–75; scar ¹ + -ed ² for the adjective senses; scar ¹ + -ed ¹ for the verb sense

Explanation

Something that's scarred is beat up, showing marks of wear or injury. The scarred wooden floors in the old school show that generations of kids have walked on them. The adjective scarred describes something that's been hurt and shows some physical evidence of it. Your battle-scarred tabby cat might be missing a few whiskers and have a couple of nicks in his ears, and your knees might be scarred from falling off your bike. You can even be scarred in non-physical but lasting and serious ways, like being emotionally scarred by a breakup or a friend's betrayal. Being scarred this way might make you more cautious in the future.

Example Sentences

Raised by two self-focused and unloving parents, scarred by their divorce and her father’s abandonment, Hepburn vowed that she would never allow any children of hers to feel as unwanted as she did.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026

Now, authorities say that same spot is a minefield, and the islanders are scarred by their days living in an open-air prison.

From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026

"When the mines all shut there was deprivation, scarred landscapes, and the valleys have obviously struggled to regenerate themselves from those days."

From BBC • Feb. 24, 2026

Last year, retail investors outperformed professionals, by wading into the market when the pros were scarred by tariff worries.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 19, 2026

It was scarred where Gelifen had nibbled and scratched at it.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

Related Words

• awry
• bowed
• contorted
• damaged
• disfigured
• gnarled
• mangled
• misshapen
• twisted
• warped