Definition of martyr in English:

martyr

noun

1A person who is killed because of their religious or other beliefs.
‘the first Christian martyr’
- ‘Rather, martyrdom only makes sense when one takes seriously the martyrs ' religiosity.’
- ‘French and Dutch Protestants claimed new martyrs in the religious and civil wars convulsing their countries.’
- ‘He dies more or less a martyr to save a Christian friend.’
- ‘Not everyone who is killed is a martyr; some are merely victims.’
- ‘Many today, even among the leaders of the religious world, claim that Christ died a martyr's death, suffering merely for his beliefs.’
- ‘They are the words of the martyrs, martyrdom being the frequent fate of prophets.’
- ‘But an anti-Mormon mob killed him that year, creating a martyr to the new faith.’
- ‘In the book of Revelation, the martyrs are vindicated by the descent of the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven to earth.’
- ‘Even as he suffers and dies he maintains his single-minded devotion to freedom, and in death he becomes a powerful martyr to the Scottish cause.’
- ‘She began to believe that the suffragette cause needed an actual martyr to bring it the publicity it needed.’
- ‘His inclusion on the list of Christian martyrs has been proposed by the U.S. Catholic bishops, who have sent the names of more than two dozen Americans to Rome.’
- ‘Mira rejected the official history that viewed her mother as a traitor, preferring instead to cast her as a martyr to the partisan cause.’
- ‘If he dies he becomes a martyr to the cause.’
- ‘Persecuted by the Romans for her religious beliefs, she died a martyr's death before the age of twenty.’
- ‘For a moment, the only stories that Andrew could think of involved early Christian martyrs.’
- ‘The temples were to be blessed, relics of the holy martyrs reserved therein, and used for Christian worship.’
- ‘Succeeding chapters take the reader from entrance to the final mystery and revelation of the martyr's tomb within.’
- ‘That, my guidebook tells me, is the one colour you really should not wear because it is associated with the enemy of the holy martyr.’
- ‘A special exhibition of valuable and rare artefacts which trace the story of some of the saints and martyrs connected with York Minster has gone on display in the Minster Chapter House.’
- ‘For that average believer did not doubt that God's grace had been spectacularly displayed in the courage of the martyrs.’
1. 1.1A person who displays or exaggerates their discomfort or distress in order to obtain sympathy.
  ‘she wanted to play the martyr’
  ‘Those who love to play the martyr submerge their own personalities. They devote a lifetime to unnecessary servitude and privation.’
  ‘He seemed to embrace the role of the free-speech martyr.’
  ‘Don't let yourself become attached to a martyr complex.’
  ‘Displaying all a martyr's egotism, she spoke of the inevitability of an outpouring of support or anger.’
  ‘Instead, she becomes a martyr and as she does so we start to lose sympathy.’
  ‘I did say it would curtail my daytime internet surfing, adopting the air of a martyr to the communal good.’
  ‘Or would she be left alone or converted as a martyr to the cause of achieving a work-family balance?’
  ‘In her defense she said at the council meeting the report was tabled, she was ‘happy to be a martyr to the ratepayers of this area’.’
  ‘There are plenty of false martyrs out there that are completely unworthy of our sympathy.’
  ‘You so love to play the martyr though, don't you?’
  ‘Suzie knows from experience that being a martyr to the workplace is an addiction, and she helps people break out of it.’
  ‘The rumour then said that the failed registration was planned in order to make the leader look like a martyr and win the sympathy of the people.’
  ‘Or do I play the martyr, fake genuine happiness, and stay because it's the best for our sons but not for me?’
  ‘Some parents put their children first in order to play the martyr.’
  ‘On one extreme, we may decide to play the martyr -- to keep quiet and endure great pains so as not to create a scene or disrupt others.’
  ‘Striking the martyr pose is good public relations because it distracts attention from the real issues.’
  ‘But she has that martyr complex… Sometimes she's like a walking children's book.’
  ‘But I always thought that story had kind of a martyr complex.’
  suffer from, be a constant sufferer from, have chronic …
  View synonyms
2. 1.2martyr toA constant sufferer from (an ailment)
  ‘I'm a martyr to migraine!’
  ‘Mr. Brown, who owned a china shop in Michigan, was a martyr to headaches.’
  ‘Ever since he first stood upright, man has been a martyr to his back.’
  ‘It is a martyr to mildew however and I have found it grows best in damp soil with shade for at least part of the day.’
  ‘Emily, the mother is a martyr to migraine, which causes her to withdraw to her bedroom, her husband is frequently absent, pleading pressure of work.’
  ‘Becoming a mother shouldn't mean being a martyr to pain but it often does.’

verb

[with object]

1Kill (someone) because of their beliefs.
‘she was martyred for her faith’
- ‘‘Our two security guards were martyred and the suicide bomber was killed,’ said the witness.’
- ‘He fought tooth and nail with terrorists killing three of them, but at last he was martyred.’
- ‘However, in 1539 he was martyred, being burnt alive in Innsbruck on direct orders from Emperor Ferdinand I.’
- ‘Did you know that more than 500 people were martyred in the Netherlands between 1530 and 1555 for espousing Reformation convictions?’
- ‘If the person is martyred or its equivalent (death during childbirth, by plague, or from an accident), the body is not cleansed and is buried as it fell.’
- ‘Honestly, I did not know that your son was martyred recently; I was told that he passed away a couple of months back.’
- ‘He was martyred in 362 under Julian the Apostate.’
- ‘My son was martyred and his cousin survived to tell us the story.’
- ‘The original tradition involving hunting wrens stems from the belief of the ancient Irish that a wren betrayed St Stephen's hiding place to the Romans, who martyred him.’
- ‘I found out all about this after he was martyred.’
- ‘He was martyred after six months in the hospital in Jordan.’
- ‘The day he was martyred, there was a demonstration after school.’
- ‘And then, too, to be candid about it, the fact that he was martyred made him more popular than he ever was in lifetime.’
- ‘Even if we grant that Peter was martyred in Rome, his body is unlikely to have been recovered for burial, or his grave ever marked.’
- ‘Huge basilicas jutted from the encroaching sands, monuments to a Christian soldier martyred by his Roman comrades.’
- ‘If he is martyred - as seems inevitable - others will almost certainly rise to fill his shoes.’
- ‘He was martyred after refusing to persecute Christians and became a patron saint of soldiers.’
- ‘It is supposed to be on the spot where Peter was martyred that a basilica was built.’
- ‘Indeed, martyring its leaders and destroying infrastructure may only strengthen the enemy's cause.’
- ‘‘Eighty-five of our fighters were martyred in the raid,’ he said.’
put to death, kill, make a martyr of, martyrize
View synonyms
1. 1.1Cause great pain or distress to.
  ‘there was no need to martyr themselves again’
  ‘Her poor, martyred heart is then subjected to all the glorious pains of unfulfilled love we associate with the Petrarchan traditions of the late Elizabethan era.’
  ‘Only fools martyr themselves needlessly.’
  ‘You have the right to martyr yourself if you like, but NO ONE has the right to martyr their children!’
  ‘Don't continue to martyr yourself for an absent ex. Going out of your way to make him look good when he's a horrible father isn't doing anyone any favors.’
  ‘Do not martyr yourself, as you will only be resented for doing so! All of the children will benefit from the role model of a mother who takes her own needs seriously.’