disgrace

verb

dis·grace | \di-ˈskrās,

dis-ˈgrās\

Definition of disgrace

(Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

1 archaic : to humiliate by a superior showing thy whiteness … shall disgrace the swan— Robert Browning

2 : to be a source of shame to Your actions disgraced the family.

3 : to cause to lose favor (see favor entry 1 sense 1a(2)) or standing was disgraced by the hint of scandal

disgrace

noun

Definition of disgrace (Entry 2 of 2)

1a : the condition of one fallen from grace : the condition of one who has lost honor (see honor entry 1 sense 1a) left in disgrace

b : loss of grace, favor, or honor brought disgrace upon the family

2 : a source of shame Your manners are a disgrace. He's a disgrace to the profession.

Other Words from disgrace Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about disgrace

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Choose the Right Synonym for disgrace

Noun

disgrace, dishonor, disrepute, infamy, ignominy mean the state or condition of suffering loss of esteem and of enduring reproach. disgrace often implies humiliation and sometimes ostracism. sent home in disgrace dishonor emphasizes the loss of honor that one has enjoyed or the loss of self-esteem. preferred death to life with dishonor disrepute stresses loss of one's good name or the acquiring of a bad reputation. a once proud name fallen into disrepute infamy usually implies notoriety as well as exceeding shame. a day that lives in infamy ignominy stresses humiliation. the ignominy of being arrested

Examples of disgrace in a Sentence

Verb

Many feel that the mayor has disgraced the town government by accepting personal favors from local businesspeople. He felt he had disgraced himself by failing at school.

Noun

The secret was protected out of a fear of political disgrace. Many feel that the mayor has brought disgrace upon the town. She was forced to leave in disgrace. His table manners are a disgrace. The health-care system is a national disgrace.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

An influential Friday Prayer leader, Ahmad Alamolhoda, said the dance performance had been planned by enemies set on disgracing the Shiite saint that the event was meant to honor, Fateme Zahra. — Thomas Erdbrink, New York Times, "Tehran’s Mayor Watched a Dance Recital. Now He’s the Ex-Mayor.," 14 Mar. 2018 Most England fans just shrugged - after all, their side had faced Italy and Uruguay in successive matches, without completely disgracing themselves in either of those 2-1 defeats. — SI.com, "An Urgent Message to England Fans at the World Cup - Please Calm Down & Get Real!," 27 June 2018 With the exception of a few Governors like Baker, Hogan and Kasich it is filled with feckless cowards who disgrace and dishonor the legacies of the party’s greatest leaders. — Tara Golshan, Vox, "A prominent GOP strategist has left the Republican Party over family separations at the border," 20 June 2018 As if that weren’t enough, his son had disgraced himself by spreading an unhinged conspiracy theory involving child molestation, the Democratic Party, and a popular D.C. pizzeria. — Eric Levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "Beautiful: This Former Criminal Just Got the Second Chance of a Lifetime," 10 July 2018 The single biggest take away is that the leadership under Jim Comey was disgraced by this report. — Fox News, "How can the US assess North Korea's nuclear arsenal?," 17 June 2018 Season two will begin with the 1956 Suez Crisis—a disastrous military decision which disgraced then-Prime Minister Anthony Eden—and will chronicle events roughly through 1964, ending with the downfall of another Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan. — Emma Dibdin, Harper's BAZAAR, "'The Crown' Has Cast Its JFK and Jackie Kennedy," 9 Feb. 2017 Disappointed in @Target ‘s decision to disgrace ALL FATHERS with their baby daddy cards. — Lisa Gutierrez, kansascity, "Target pulls 'Baby Daddy' Father's Day card featuring black couple after complaints," 13 June 2018 As sheriff of deep-red Maricopa County, Arpaio disgraced himself time and again. — Theodore Kupfer, National Review, "Will Sheriff Joe Be the Next Roy Moore?," 11 Jan. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

After some foot-shuffling at the seminary, Patterson was at last pushed out without retirement benefits in May. None of this disgrace has passed without notice among evangelicals. — Virginia Heffernan, WIRED, "ChurchToo and Mike Pence’s Crisis of Faith," 21 June 2018 His patients included an academic whom the government had expelled in disgrace from the capital, and who had become terminally ill. — The Economist, "Taboos make it hard to discuss mortality in China," 7 June 2018 The response to the hurricane was a disgrace, by all accounts. — refinery29.com, "The Government Failed The 5,740 Puerto Ricans Who Died After Hurricane Maria," 29 May 2018 As an autopsy of one of the darker moments in recent British political disgrace, A Very English Scandal is a spry and surprisingly funny work. — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, "Sex, Lies, and Bunnies in A Very English Scandal," 3 July 2018 Kennedy later learned the boy had been sent to an internment camp for Japanese Americans, a national disgrace that was later codified into law by the court’s Korematsu decision. — Massimo Calabresi, Time, "With Justice Kennedy Gone, It's Trump's Court Now," 28 June 2018 Harris appointed Brown as interim general manager on Thursday, after Bryan Colangelo resigned in disgrace over a Twitter controversy involving him and his wife. — Marcus Hayes, Philly.com, "In Brett Brown, the Sixers have a decent GM at last | Marcus Hayes," 7 June 2018 To skip that part and go straight to the review is to be a disgusting agent of destruction, a parasite, a disgrace to criticism and a blight on the art of writing. — Mick Lasalle, San Francisco Chronicle, "What are the most overrated movies?," 6 June 2018 Nunes could not rescue Flynn from disgrace—or later, special counsel Robert Mueller, with whom the former national security adviser negotiated a guilty plea on a charge of lying to the FBI. — Jeff Stein, Newsweek, "Nunes Memo Reveals Congressman’s Penchant for Conspiracy Theories," 11 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'disgrace.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.