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Glite Dictionary
battle-scarred

battle-scarred

2 6.0
Damaged by war or long hardship, often with visible marks
  • adjective
  • /ˈbætəlˌskɑrd/
translation icon : marcado por la batalla
  • His battle-scarred face told stories of the many conflicts he had witnessed throughout his life.

Most people come out of this wiser, stronger, a bit battle scarred.

Examples

  • Those remaining were a group of battle-scarred veterans, deserving of a short rest before he bullwhacked them up the slopes of learning toward victory and maybe graduation.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • The battle-scarred landscape was a stark reminder of the fierce fighting that had taken place there.

  • And yet even here, the country was battle-scarred, even far, far out in the country.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • This was out of character for the veteran, battle-scarred activist.

    Blog text (8)

  • All five, as it turns out, are successful, battle-scarred, but with a surprising lack of bitterness.

    Academic text (1995)

  • The list was a big hit, and it seemed to break down some barriers between the library and some of the more battle-scarred library patrons.

    Academic text (2007)

  • Leshem hopes to bring together the country's battle-scarred past with a utopian vision of its future.

    Academic text (2001)

  • The magistrate is a battle-scarred veteran, a brutal pragmatist angry with his corporal.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • He's galloping hard at the head of his cavalry, battle-scarred and bloodied.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • On the evening of the original Pons and Fleischmann press conference, I ran into one of my buddies at Caltech, a battle-scarred veteran of experimental nuclear physics.

    Academic text (1994)

Synonyms

war-torn
vsbattle-scarred
15 5.5

A place badly damaged and in ruins because of war

refers to visible marks from conflict without implying total destruction
scarred
vsbattle-scarred
5 4.6

Deeply hurt by physical injury or strong emotional pain

specifies marks result from conflict rather than any injury or pain
war-worn
vsbattle-scarred
8.5

Damaged and tired after long years of war

emphasizes visible marks from conflict rather than general wear

Antonyms

unmarked
43 4.3

Having no mark or label to show who it belongs to

untouched
20 3.0

Not changed or damaged by something, still in its original condition

How Damaged

ruined
1 3.1
battle-scarred
2 6.0
marked
2.7
intact
304 3.7

Surface Forms

battle-scarred positive

Morphology

battle-scarred = battle + scarred (transparent) = battle + scar + ed

Clear compound of 'battle' + 'scarred' meaning 'having scars from battle'; the relation is directly inferable from the parts.

Etymology

The word battle-scarred combines battle ('fight') and scar ('a mark left after a wound'). It makes a strong picture of marks from fighting, so we use it for things or people damaged by real fights or changed by hard life experiences.