disfigure
UK /dɪsˈfɪɡə/ · US /dɪsˈfɪɡjɚ/ verb
Forms disfigures disfiguring disfigured
- verb to irreversibly damage the shape or structure of something, negatively affecting its appearance or functionality without completely destroying it. “His face was disfigured by a terrible fire many years ago, leaving deep scars across his crooked nose.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English disfiguren, from Anglo-Norman desfigurer.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To mar the figure of; to render less complete, perfect, or beautiful in appearance; to deface; to deform.
- noun Disfigurement; deformity. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Etymology [OF. desfigurer, F. défigurer; pref. des- (L. dis-) + figurer to fashion, shape, fr. L. figurare, fr. figura figure. See Figure, and cf. Defiguration.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “disfigure”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details