scarred

[ skahrd ]

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.

verb

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

Other Words From

• un·scarred adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of scarred¹

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

Example Sentences

Their bodies bear the scars from cuts and other on-the-job injuries.

From ProPublica

So, it’s kind of like as you get older, I have scars on my body.

From Freakonomics

A decade from now their kids will be grown and they will still be bearing the scars of the Covid pandemic.

From Vox

Today, investors are less concerned about sudden exchange-rate shifts than in recent years, when the scars of the mini-devaluation lingered.

From Ozy

The state has since increased income taxes and sales taxes and other sources of revenue, but the wound of 1978 has formed scar tissue in the brains of anyone who thinks about California public policy.

From Voice of San Diego

I did 10 years without being scarred; I fought infrequently, only when I had no other option, and mostly in the beginning.

From The Daily Beast

When she declined, she claimed she was fired from the Vegas Hilton, and that the whole experience scarred her for life.

From The Daily Beast

My children and I are safe now, but we will always by scarred by those twelve years of abuse and fear of deportation.

From The Daily Beast

The Orioles scarred Palmer by insinuating that his problems were in his head.

From The Daily Beast

The battle-scarred daytime TV vet agrees that Vieira could survive and even thrive, but offers a cautionary note.

From The Daily Beast

The mountain ranges were bathed in sunshine and the scarred and seamy face of stern old Errigal seemed almost to smile.

From Project Gutenberg

Bascomb could scramble and make headway up the scarred bank, but there was no chance for the motor-cycle to follow.

From Project Gutenberg

That instant its tawny face scarred with black emerged from behind green leaves.

From Project Gutenberg

Richard kissed father and mother, wrung Herbert's great scarred paw, and vanished in a tent at the northern end of the close.

From Project Gutenberg

Had the stone struck a little higher, it would probably have put out her eye; as it was, her face was badly scarred.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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