These words agree in meaning to inflict injury or damage that spoils the appearance of a person or thing. Disfigure and mar , as here considered, imply comparatively permanent injury or damage; a person’s face may be disfigured by scars or the surface of a desk may be marred by deep scratches. The two words differ in that disfigure suggests a change in outlines or lineaments, whereas mar may suggest random damage that does not substantially change appearance but may hamper effectiveness or functioning.

• The church was disfigured by the half-built steeple; The record was so marred that it was almost impossible to listen to.

Deface and blemish are often used interchangeably with disfigure and mar but often imply less permanent damage on injury; a wall may be defaced by pencil markings or a person’s face may be blemished by pimples. Deface nearly always suggests flaws introduced into something originally not disfigured ; deliberate malice is often suggested as the motive: campaign posters defaced by graffiti. Something may be blemished by inherent defects: a programme blemished from the outset by a lack of funds.

Deform implies a lasting change for the worse or deviation from the normal in the structure or form of something: a baby deformed by congenital abnormalities; deformed by a serious accident.