mar
1 of 4verb
ˈmär 
marred; marring
transitive verb
1
: to ruin or diminish the perfection or wholeness of : spoil
whose life has been marred by problems with drugs
William Plummer
William Plummertheir relations were marred by disgraceful conflicts L. W. Beck
L. W. Beckthe race was marred by a 23-car pileup Mike Harris
Mike Harris2
archaic
a
: to inflict serious bodily harm on
b
: destroy
mar
2 of 4noun
: something that mars : blemish
mar
3 of 4abbreviation (1)
maritime
Mar
4 of 4abbreviation (2)
March
Synonyms
Verb
- blemish
- darken
- poison
- spoil
- stain
- taint
- tarnish
- touch
- vitiate
Noun
- blemish
- blight
- blotch
- defect
- deformity
- disfigurement
- excrescence
- excrescency
- fault
- flaw
- imperfection
- mark
- pockmark
- scar
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Verb A large scar marred his face. Her acting mars an otherwise great movie. Noun the Johnsons complained to the movers about broken dishes and mars on the furniture
Word History
Etymology
Verb and Noun
Middle English marren, from Old English mierran to obstruct, waste; akin to Old High German merren to obstruct
First Known Use
Verb
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Noun
1551, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
mar 1 of 2
verb
ˈmär
marred; marring
: to ruin the beauty or perfection of : spoil
… Little Man never allowed dirt or tears or stains to mar anything he owned. Mildred D. Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Mildred D. Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My CryMar.
2 of 2abbreviation
March
marring
verb
1
as in tainting
to affect slightly with something morally bad or undesirable mar a politician's reputation with scurrilous rumors Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- tainting
- spoiling
- staining
- poisoning
- darkening
- touching
- tarnishing
- blemishing
- distorting
- degrading
- smearing
- blackening
- lowering
- soiling
- discrediting
- corrupting
- vitiating
- polluting
- sullying
- discoloring
- blurring
- clouding
- dirtying
- smudging
- disgracing
- besmirching
- dishonoring
- tarring
- perverting
- debasing
- shaming
- cheapening
- sinking
- demeaning
- fouling
- subverting
- twisting
- abasing
- debauching
- coloring
- demoralizing
- smutting
- depraving
- bastardizing
- smirching
- besmearing
- begriming
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- cleansing
- purifying
- elevating
- glorifying
- magnifying
- uplifting
- enshrining
- ennobling
- dignifying
- hallowing
2
as in damaging
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of the once glossy surface is now marred by numerous small pits and abrasions Synonyms & Similar Words
- damaging
- injuring
- compromising
- crippling
- hurting
- weakening
- spoiling
- impairing
- breaking
- harming
- eroding
- defacing
- disfiguring
- destroying
- blemishing
- ruining
- undermining
- vitiating
- shattering
- bloodying
- deteriorating
- battering
- tarnishing
- denting
- wounding
- crabbing
- wrecking
- blighting
- demolishing
- flawing
- scouring
- endamaging
- crossing (up)
- enfeebling
- crushing
- smashing
- torturing
- dinging
- mutilating
- enervating
- devastating
- tormenting
- lacerating
- maiming
- mangling
- annihilating
- disabling
- decimating
- botching
- hamstringing
- wasting
- queering
- razing
- pulverizing
- clobbering
- washing out
- bashing
- desolating
- dashing
- laming
- totaling
- dinting
- wiping out
- scourging
- wearing (away)
- tearing down
- doing in
- gumming (up)
- totalling
- banging up
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- repairing
- fixing
- rebuilding
- reconstructing
- patching
- renovating
- helping
- remedying
- curing
- revamping
- rehabilitating
- mending
- healing
- rectifying
- improving
- reconditioning
- enhancing
- doctoring
- editing
- remodeling
- revising
- ameliorating
- enriching
- perfecting
- refining
- bettering
- meliorating