ignominious

adjective

ig·​no·​min·​i·​ous ˌig-nə-ˈmi-nē-əs 

1

: humiliating, degrading

an ignominious defeat

2

: deserving of shame or infamy : despicable

3

: marked with or characterized by disgrace or shame : dishonorable

ignominiously adverb

ignominiousness noun

Did you know?

The "-nom-" of "ignominious" comes from "nomen," the Latin word for "name" or "repute." (It's also the root of "misnomer," "nomenclature," and "nominal," among others.) The "ig-" part of the word is akin to the negative prefix in-; when joined to the root "-nom-," it indicates the namelessness that goes with shame or dishonor. To suffer an ignominious fate is to lose the opportunity to make a name for oneself or to lose one's good name. When "ignominious" was first borrowed from a French form of the word in the 15th century, it meant "disgraced" or "dishonorable." "Ignominious" continues to have such meanings, but it also has somewhat milder meanings - "embarrassing" and "humiliating."

Synonyms

• discreditable
• disgraceful
• dishonorable
• disreputable
• infamous
• louche
• notorious
• opprobrious
• shady
• shameful
• shoddy
• shy
• unrespectable

Examples of ignominious in a Sentence

some of his friends considered the low-level job to be an ignominious fate for the laid-off executive

the prison guards degraded themselves with their inhumane, ignominious treatment of the prisoners

Recent Examples on the Web

Meanwhile, several of the top competitors for the ignominious distinction of the best show not streaming have managed to find their way to one service or another. —Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 18 June 2024

His Reform party is meanwhile swallowing up the support of dissatisfied ex-Conservatives across Britain, dragging the ruling party into what opinion polls suggest will be an ignominious battle for second place behind runaway leader Labour. —Rob Picheta, CNN, 16 June 2024

Rationalizing Western Apathy on Rwanda Alan J. Kuperman plays word games to rationalize the West’s ignominious failure to halt genocide in Rwanda, writes Alison L. Des Forges. —Gail M. Gerhart, Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2024

Dom Amore: Alabama made UConn men work hard, but the Huskies are on the brink of history Purdue, a sturdy team that annually withstands the big, physical teams in the Big Ten Conference, took a much more ignominious defeat under unforgiving microscope of March. —Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 7 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

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Kids Definition

ignominious

adjective

ig·​no·​min·​i·​ous ˌig-nə-ˈmin-ē-əs 

: causing disgrace or shame

an ignominious defeat

ignominiously adverb