disfigure
verb
dis·fig·ure dis-ˈfi-gyər 
especially British -ˈfi-gə
disfigured; disfiguring; disfigures
transitive verb
1
: to impair (as in beauty) by deep and persistent injuries
a face disfigured by smallpox
2
obsolete : disguise
disfigurement
dis-ˈfi-gyər-mənt
noun especially British -ˈfi-gə-
Synonyms
- blemish
- bloody
- break
- compromise
- crab
- cripple
- cross (up)
- damage
- deface
- endamage
- flaw
- harm
- hurt
- impair
- injure
- mar
- spoil
- vitiate
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
His face was disfigured by a scar. the statue was seriously disfigured by falling rubble during the earthquake
Recent Examples on the Web In an unrelated case, court records indicate Boswell is charged with first-degree assault with intent to disfigure in a Sept. 11, 2019, incident in which he is accused of beating a man causing brain damage to him. 
Carol Robinson | Crobinson@al.com, al, 21 Apr. 2022 Perez faces three felony charges, including a charge of assault with intent to disfigure and dismember and a charge of assault with intent to seriously injure someone with a weapon. Amir Vera And Liam Reilly, CNN, 28 Feb. 2022 Yet the addition of modern touches threatens to disfigure the cathedral, according to dozens of cultural figures and intellectuals who have stood up against the proposals. New York Times, 10 Dec. 2021 For example, newer cultivars of flowering crabapple trees are usually resistant to apple scab and fire blight, diseases that disfigure many older trees. Beth Botts, chicagotribune.com, 19 Sep. 2021 From April 1992 until the summer of 1995, the newly independent republic of Bosnia endured the darkest violence to disfigure Europe since World War II. Steve Coll, The New York Review of Books, 28 May 2020 The perpetrators don't usually intend to kill but to disfigure their victims' faces. Rakesh Kumar, CNN, 12 July 2021 RespectAbility, an organization that advocates for individuals with disabilities, said Hollywood’s tendency to disfigure evil characters, even unintentionally, can cause people to be afraid of those who don’t look like them. Rebecca Rubin, chicagotribune.com, 5 Nov. 2020 Those lies include social media memes stating the vaccine will leave an invisible digital, trackable tattoo; that Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leader in the vaccine effort, is actually Satan; and that the vaccine will hideously disfigure your face. Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, 12 Aug. 2020 See More
Carol Robinson | Crobinson@al.com, al, 21 Apr. 2022 Perez faces three felony charges, including a charge of assault with intent to disfigure and dismember and a charge of assault with intent to seriously injure someone with a weapon. Amir Vera And Liam Reilly, CNN, 28 Feb. 2022 Yet the addition of modern touches threatens to disfigure the cathedral, according to dozens of cultural figures and intellectuals who have stood up against the proposals. New York Times, 10 Dec. 2021 For example, newer cultivars of flowering crabapple trees are usually resistant to apple scab and fire blight, diseases that disfigure many older trees. Beth Botts, chicagotribune.com, 19 Sep. 2021 From April 1992 until the summer of 1995, the newly independent republic of Bosnia endured the darkest violence to disfigure Europe since World War II. Steve Coll, The New York Review of Books, 28 May 2020 The perpetrators don't usually intend to kill but to disfigure their victims' faces. Rakesh Kumar, CNN, 12 July 2021 RespectAbility, an organization that advocates for individuals with disabilities, said Hollywood’s tendency to disfigure evil characters, even unintentionally, can cause people to be afraid of those who don’t look like them. Rebecca Rubin, chicagotribune.com, 5 Nov. 2020 Those lies include social media memes stating the vaccine will leave an invisible digital, trackable tattoo; that Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leader in the vaccine effort, is actually Satan; and that the vaccine will hideously disfigure your face. Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, 12 Aug. 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Anglo-French desfigurer, from des- dis- + figure figure
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
disfigure
verb
dis·fig·ure dis-ˈfi-gyər
disfigured; disfiguring
: to spoil the looks of
disfiguring
verb
as in damaging
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of the statue was seriously disfigured by falling rubble during the earthquake Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- damaging
- marring
- injuring
- crippling
- compromising
- hurting
- weakening
- impairing
- eroding
- harming
- spoiling
- defacing
- destroying
- breaking
- blemishing
- undermining
- vitiating
- ruining
- bloodying
- shattering
- deteriorating
- wounding
- flawing
- battering
- crabbing
- blighting
- mutilating
- endamaging
- devastating
- enervating
- enfeebling
- wrecking
- maiming
- disabling
- demolishing
- tarnishing
- crossing (up)
- denting
- torturing
- lacerating
- tormenting
- scouring
- smashing
- crushing
- mangling
- annihilating
- botching
- desolating
- pulverizing
- washing out
- decimating
- razing
- laming
- wasting
- dinging
- scourging
- clobbering
- queering
- hamstringing
- bashing
- wiping out
- dinting
- wearing (away)
- tearing down
- dashing
- totaling
- doing in
- gumming (up)
- banging up
- totalling
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- repairing
- reconstructing
- fixing
- rebuilding
- healing
- curing
- rehabilitating
- reconditioning
- patching
- remedying
- helping
- renovating
- revamping
- mending
- rectifying
- improving
- ameliorating
- enhancing
- doctoring
- remodeling
- enriching
- revising
- editing
- refining
- perfecting
- meliorating
- bettering