humiliate

verb

hu·​mil·​i·​ate hyü-ˈmi-lē-ˌāt 

yü-

humiliated; humiliating

transitive verb

: to reduce (someone) to a lower position in one's own eyes or others' eyes : to make (someone) ashamed or embarrassed : mortify

hoped they wouldn't humiliate themselves in their next game

accused her of humiliating him in public

feel so humiliated

humiliation

hyü-ˌmi-lē-ˈā-shən 

yü-

noun

Synonyms

• abase
• chasten
• cheapen
• debase
• degrade
• demean
• discredit
• disgrace
• dishonor
• foul
• humble
• lower
• shame
• sink
• smirch
• take down

Examples of humiliate in a Sentence

I hope I don't humiliate myself during the presentation.

He accused her of trying to humiliate him in public.

She was hurt and deeply humiliated by the lies he told about her.

Recent Examples on the Web

The gathering went seriously awry when all of the guests — including members of the Black Mafia — got robbed and sometimes humiliated by low-level criminals. —Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 5 Sep. 2024

Catch up quick: Miami humiliated Florida in the Swamp on Saturday, 41-17, behind a big performance from transfer quarterback Cam Ward. —Martin Vassolo, Axios, 3 Sep. 2024

Regardless of how efficiently Ukraine answers these questions, Russia has for the second time in 15 months been rudely humiliated. —Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 13 Aug. 2024

Instead, one of baseball’s better teams humiliated itself against the bottom-feeding White Sox, losing 12-2. —Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 13 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin humiliatus, past participle of humiliare, from Latin humilis low — more at humble

First Known Use

circa 1534, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

humiliate

verb

hu·​mil·​i·​ate hyü-ˈmil-ē-ˌāt 

yü-

humiliated; humiliating

: to cause a loss of pride or self-respect : humble

humiliation

-ˌmil-ē-ˈā-shən 

noun

Etymology

from Latin humiliatus "made to lose pride or self-respect," from earlier humiliare "to make low or humble," from humilis "low, humble," from humus "earth"

Word Origin

In modern English we sometimes say that a person who has been criticized or humiliated has been put down. We speak as though the person had actually been forced to the ground or made to bow down in front of someone else. The origins of the word humiliate itself also suggest the idea of physically putting someone down to the ground. Humiliate can be be traced back to the Latin humus, meaning "earth, ground." From humus came the Latin adjective humilis, meaning "low, humble," which later gave rise to the verb humiliare, meaning "to make low or humble." The English humiliate derives from Latin humiliare.