martyr

CEFRC1

/ˈmɐːtə(ɹ)/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A person who suffers or dies for a belief or cause.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    One who sacrifices their life, station, or something of great personal value, for the sake of principle or to sustain a cause.

Examples

  • A holy martyr was depicted on the icon.

  • In a few moments you'll become either a holy martyr or a dead witch.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
1

Also pronounced

  • [ˈmɐːɾə(ɹ)]

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. One who suffers greatly or constantly, even involuntarily.

  2. One who willingly accepts being put to death or willingly accepts challenging and exposing iniquity done to oneself for adhering openly to one's religious beliefs; notably, saints canonized after red martyrdom.

  3. Someone who exaggerates their pain and suffering in order to gain sympathy.

More examples

In context

  • Tom is a martyr now.

  • Stan is a martyr to arthritis, Chris a martyr to Stan's endless moaning about it.

  • The apostle Stephen was the first Christian martyr.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The religious blank was killed for refusing to give up his faith.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English martir, from Old English martyr, itself a borrowing from Ecclesiastical Latin martyr, from Ancient Greek μάρτυρ (mártur), later form of μάρτυς (mártus, “witness”).