scar
English · Thesaurus
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scar¹
- /skɑɹ/ US
- /skɑː(ɹ)/ UK
Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)
Where it comes from
From Middle English scar, scarre, a conflation of Old French escare (“scab”) (from Late Latin eschara, from Ancient Greek ἐσχάρα (eskhára, “scab left from a burn”), and thus a doublet of eschar) and Middle English skar (“incision, cut, fissure”) (from Old Norse skarð (“notch, chink, gap”), from Proto-Germanic *skardaz (“gap, cut, fragment”)). Akin to Old Norse skor (“notch, score”), Old English sċeard (“gap, cut, notch”). More at shard.
Displaced native Old English dolg, dolgswæþ, and wundswaþu (“scar”). Not related to scarify.
noun scars
- A permanent mark on the skin, sometimes caused by the healing of a wound. Art thou that villaine in whoſe damned mouth, / Was neuer heard of any woꝛd but woundes? / Whoſe recreant limbes are nocht with gaping ſcarres, / Thicker then any carking craft-mans ſkoꝛe, / Whoſe very ſkalpe is ſcratcht and craſde and bꝛoken, / Like an old mazzer beaten on the ſtones, / And ſtandſt
- A permanent negative effect on someone's mind, caused by a traumatic experience. Thus, it is wise to avoid cultivating an emotional scar, as it can play havoc with your happiness and success.
- Any permanent mark resulting from damage. Her age-old weapons, flood and fire, left scars on the canyon which time will never efface.
verb scars · scarring · scarred
- To mark the skin permanently. Yet I'll not shed her blood; / Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow.
- To form a scar. Iron and coal were the magnets that drew railways to this land of lovely valleys and silent mountains—for such it was a century-and-a-half ago, before man blackened the valleys with the smoke of his forges, scarred the green hills with his shafts and waste-heaps, and drove the salmon from the quiet
- To affect deeply in a traumatic manner. Seeing his parents die in a car crash scarred him for life.
scar²
- /skɑɹ/ US
- /skɑː(ɹ)/ UK
Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)
Where it comes from
From Middle English scarre, skarr, skerre, sker, a borrowing from Old Norse sker (“an isolated rock in the sea; skerry”). Cognate with Icelandic sker, Norwegian skjær, Swedish skär, Danish skær, German Schäre. Doublet of skerry and scaur.
noun scars
- A cliff or rock outcrop. O hark, O hear! how thin and clear, / And thinner, clearer, farther going! / O sweet and far from cliff and scar / The horns of Elfland faintly blowing!
- A rock in the sea breaking out from the surface of the water.
- A bare rocky place on the side of a hill or mountain.
scar³
- /skɑɹ/ US
- /skɑː(ɹ)/ UK
Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)
Where it comes from
From Latin scarus (“a kind of fish”), from Ancient Greek σκάρος (skáros, “parrot wrasse, Sparisoma cretense, syn. Scarus cretensis”).
noun scars
- A marine food fish, the scarus or parrotfish (family Scaridae).
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: cicatrice, cicatrix, scratch, scrape, pock, pit, mark, scarface, wound, stain, incision, smudge, blob, slit, gash, notch
Translations
Every language
noun permanent mark on the skin
| Español | alforza, facial chirlo, chirlazo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 흉터 hyungteo, 반흔 banheun |
| 日本語 | 傷 kizu, 瘢痕 hankon |
| 中文 | 疤 bā, 傷疤 /伤疤 shāngbā, 傷痕 /伤痕 shānghén, 疤痕 bāhén, 瘢痕 bānhén |
| हिन्दी | दाग़ dāġ, निशान niśān |
| Kiswahili | kovu |
| Português | cicatriz |
| Français | cicatrice, balafre |
| Deutsch | Narbe |
| Italiano | cicatrice |
| Ελληνικά | ουλή oulí |
| Română | cicatrice |
| Русский | шрам šram, рубе́ц rubéc |
| Tiếng Việt | sẹo, thẹo |
| العربية | نَدْبَة nadba, نَدْب nadb |
| עברית | צַלֶּקֶת tzaléket |
noun permanent negative mark on the mind
| Español | cicatriz |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 陰影 /阴影 yīnyǐng, 心理創傷 /心理创伤 xīnlǐ chuāngshāng |
| Français | cicatrice |
| Italiano | cicatrice |
| Русский | след sled, отпеча́ток otpečátok, рубе́ц rubéc |
verb to mark the skin permanently
| 中文 | 留下疤痕 liúxià bāhén |
|---|---|
| Português | deixar cicatriz |
| Français | cicatriser |
| Deutsch | entstellen, verunstalten |
| Ελληνικά | σημαδεύω simadévo |
verb to form a scar
| 中文 | 結疤 /结疤 jiébā |
|---|---|
| Português | cicatrizar |
verb to affect deeply in a traumatic manner
| 中文 | 給……留下心理創傷 /给……留下心理创伤 gěi... liúxià xīnlǐ chuāngshāng |
|---|---|
| Português | marcar |
| Deutsch | traumatisieren |
Talk about this word "scar." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/scar. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. scar. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/scar "scar." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/scar.Cite this
@misc{scar_2026,
title = {scar},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/scar},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
