humble

¹hum·ble

adjective \ˈhəm-bəl also chiefly Southern ˈəm-\

hum·bler \-b(ə-)lər\ hum·blest \-b(ə-)ləst\

Definition of HUMBLE

1

: not proud or haughty : not arrogant or assertive

2

: reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission <a humble apology>

3

a : ranking low in a hierarchy or scale : insignificant, unpretentious

b : not costly or luxurious <a humble contraption>

— hum·ble·ness \-bəl-nəs\ noun

— hum·bly \-blē\ adverb

Examples of HUMBLE

1. Despite all his achievements, he has remained humble.
2. He is very humble about his achievements.
3. She is too humble to let praise go to her head.
4. Please accept my humble apologies.
5. Her humble suggestion is that we review the data more carefully.
6. He comes from a humble background.
7. She's not ashamed of her humble beginnings.
8. Humble though it may be, and about as glamorous as a galosh, it is a fish that has shaped the political and social history of Europe like no other, with the possible exception of cod. —R. W. Apple, Jr., New York Times, 30 Oct. 2002
9. She would not come closer to me, as much as I thought she wished to, hungering not for anything like love but for plain, humble succor. —Chang-rae Lee, A Gesture Life, 1999
10. Women are the organizing soft-centered socialists, the nice people, the sugar-and-spice lot, identifying with the poor and humble; men are snips and snails and puppy-dog tails, and rampant, selfish, greedy capitalists. —Fay Weldon, Harper's, May 1998

Origin of HUMBLE

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin humilis low, humble, from humus earth; akin to Greek chthōn earth, chamai on the ground

First Known Use: 13th century

Related to HUMBLE

Synonyms

demure, down-to-earth, lowly, meek, modest, unassuming, unpretentious

Antonyms

arrogant, bumptious, chesty, conceited, egotistic (or egotistical), fastuous, haughty, highfalutin (also hifalutin), high-and-mighty, high-handed, high-hat, hoity-toity, huffish, huffy, imperious, lordly, overweening, peremptory, pompous, presuming, presumptuous, pretentious, self-asserting, self-assertive, supercilious, superior, toplofty (also toploftical), uppish, uppity

Related Words

acquiescent, compliant, deferential, resigned, submissive, unaggressive, unassertive, yielding; cowering, cringing, shrinking; ingenuous, naive (or naïve), plain, simple, unaffected; bashful, diffident, introverted, mousy (or mousey), overmodest, passive, quiet, reserved, retiring, sheepish, shy, subdued, timid, unobtrusive; aw-shucks, self-deprecating, self-deprecatory, self-effacing

Near Antonyms

aggressive, assertive, audacious, bold, brash, brassy, cheeky, forward, impertinent, impudent, saucy; cocksure, cocky, confident, hubristic, overconfident, self-confident; egocentric, egoistic (also egoistical), narcissistic, prideful, self-affected, self-centered, self-complacent, self-conceited, self-congratulatory, self-contented, self-engrossed, self-important, self-obsessed, self-pleased, self-satisfied, smug, stuck-up, swelled-headed; boastful, bombastic, braggy, swaggering, vain, vainglorious; condescending, disdainful, dominant, dominating, domineering, magisterial, overbearing, patronizing, pontificating; flamboyant, ostentatious, showy; extroverted (also extraverted), immodest, outgoing, uninhibited, unreserved

²hum·ble

transitive verb \ˈhəm-bəl also chiefly Southern ˈəm-\

hum·bledhum·bling \-b(ə-)liŋ\

Definition of HUMBLE

1

: to make (someone) humble (see ¹humble) in spirit or manner

2

: to destroy the power, independence, or prestige of

— hum·bler \-b(ə-)lər\ noun

— hum·bling·ly \-b(ə-)liŋ-lē\ adverb

Examples of HUMBLE

1. Her success has humbled her critics.
2. Last year's champion was humbled by an unknown newcomer.
3. Cuba's reliance on tourism is a somewhat humbling turn for the revolution, which has long prided itself on producing topflight doctors and teachers—not concierges. —Tim Padgett, Time, 22 Dec. 2003
4. … audiences loved to see villains punished and arrogant young men humbled, they did not want to fidget and squirm through mea culpas before the final scene. —Elaine Showalter, Civilization, April/May 1999
5. It frightened and humbled him but also made him feel darkly charmed. —Don DeLillo, Mao II, 1991

Origin of HUMBLE

(see ¹humble)

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to HUMBLE

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

aggrandize, canonize, deify, elevate, exalt

Related Words

abash, confound, confuse, discomfit, disconcert, discountenance, embarrass, faze, fluster, mortify, nonplus, rattle; belittle, castigate, criticize, cry down, decry, depreciate, detract, diminish, discount, disparage, minimize, put down, ridicule, write off; bad-mouth, defame, defile, libel, malign, slander; affront, insult; censure, condemn, damn, denounce, execrate, reprehend, reprobate

Near Antonyms

acclaim, applaud, boast, celebrate, cheer, cite, commend, compliment, congratulate, decorate, eulogize, extol (also extoll), fete (or fête), hail, honor, laud, praise, salute, tout; acknowledge, recognize; highlight, play up, spotlight; dignify, ennoble, enshrine, ensky, enthrone, glorify, magnify; advance, boost, lift, promote, raise, upgrade, uplift; idealize, romanticize

Rhymes with HUMBLE

bumble, crumble, fumble, grumble, jumble, mumble, rumble, scumble, stumble, tumble, umbel