disfigure means to irreversibly damage the shape or structure of something, negatively affecting its appearance or functionality without completely destroying it. It carries an Arena rating of 1559, earned across 38 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, disfigure ranks #314 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #2,295 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #4,942 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #5,428 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words.
disfigure is pronounced /dɪsˈfɪɡə/.
Why “disfigure” is a great word
DISFIGURE — [Verb] To irreversibly damage the shape or structure of something, especially its appearance, by causing deep and persistent injury. From Middle English disfiguren, from Anglo-Norman desfigurer, ultimately from Latin dis- (expressing reversal) + figurare ("to shape, form"). Unlike "deface," which implies superficial surface damage like graffiti, or "deform," which may suggest a change of shape without the necessary gravity of violent marring, to disfigure is to inflict a profound and lasting ruin. It is the acid-scarred portrait, the landscape strip-mined to its bones, or the face after the fire that no surgeon can wholly restore—a permanent testament where the original form persists only as a ghost in the wreckage.
Etymology
From Middle English disfiguren, from Anglo-Norman desfigurer.
verb
- to irreversibly damage the shape or structure of something, negatively affecting its appearance or functionality without completely destroying it.e.g.“His face was disfigured by a terrible fire many years ago, leaving deep scars across his crooked nose.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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