Synonyms

scarred

American

[skahrd] / skɑrd /

adjective

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.
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.
(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.
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.
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.

verb

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

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.

Yet that hasn't eased the nerves of a nation that Gates says is still "scarred" from the play-off defeats by Sweden and North Macedonia over the past decade.

From BBC • Mar. 25, 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

And it plucks a nerve in a country still scarred by its history of militarism.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026

In the weeks that followed its capture, the streets emptied out at nightfall and the buzz evaporated from the bars that had once offered some respite in a region scarred by three decades of conflict.

From Barron's • Jan. 23, 2026

But the cry his grandfather gave—huge from such an old man—when he saw him, standing, soaking wet and scarred and smiling: that was worth hearing.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023