What does disfigure mean?
Disfigure is a verb meaning to spoil or damage the appearance of a person, object, or place, especially in a severe, permanent, or shocking way. A face may be disfigured by an accident, a building by fire, or a monument by vandalism — the word implies that what was once whole or attractive has been visibly ruined. It carries strong negative connotations and is generally formal or serious in register, appearing frequently in medical reporting (injuries and burns), journalism, and literature. Common derivatives include the noun disfigurement, widely used in legal contexts concerning personal injury, and the participial adjective disfigured. Synonyms include deform, mar, blemish, deface, and mutilate, though these vary in intensity: deface usually suggests surface vandalism, while mutilate implies far graver harm. Etymologically, disfigure combines the Latin-derived prefix dis- (indicating reversal or negation) with figure, from Latin figura, meaning shape or form — literally, to strip something of its form.
verbTo spoil or damage the appearance of something or someone, especially in a way that is severe or permanent.
- To spoil the appearance of someone or something, especially severely or permanently.
"The fire disfigured the once-elegant façade of the cathedral."
"Smallpox left many survivors permanently disfigured."
"Vandals disfigured the memorial with spray paint."
"Disfigure" literally means to un-figure — to strip away the form or beauty that made something recognizable in the first place.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of disfigure
Disfigure comes from Middle English, borrowed via Old French desfigurer, and ultimately derives from Latin figura, meaning shape or form, combined with the prefix dis-, indicating reversal or negation. It entered English in the late medieval period and has long carried the sense of destroying the form or beauty of something. It shares its Latin root figura with words such as figure, figurative, configuration, and transfigure.
Related word forms
How disfigure is actually used
Formal to neutral in register. Often used in medical, legal, and literary contexts; frequently appears in passive constructions such as "left disfigured." The noun form is "disfigurement," which is common in legal and medical language.
Easily confused with disfigure
Deface typically refers to damaging a surface, especially through vandalism such as graffiti, while disfigure more broadly means spoiling the appearance of anything, often permanently and severely.