humble pie

noun

Updated on: 2 Apr 2018

Definition of humble pie

: a figurative serving of humiliation usually in the form of a forced submission, apology, or retraction —often used in the phrase eat humble pie

Recent Examples of humble pie from the Web

And a big serving for humble pie for some of the loudmouths on the left.

— Fox News, "Ingraham: The lawlessness of the Democratic Party," 20 Mar. 2018
Coach Dye is all humble pie, just glad to be here, honored, self-effacing.

— tom corvin, latimes.com, "Remember the Titans: Forty years after Cal State Who, Fullerton takes on Purdue," 15 Mar. 2018
If the Pacers needed a little humble pie, this game should do it.

— clifton brown, Indianapolis Star, "3 takeaways from the Pacers' loss to the Jazz," 7 Mar. 2018
Well, these six oddities are already quite a bit of humble pie for Google Translate to swallow, but let’s forgive and forget.

— douglas hofstadter, The Atlantic, "The Shallowness of Google Translate," 30 Jan. 2018
There may be some humble pie on the menu for the administrators of Chelsea's Twitter account though.

— SI.com, "Chelsea Mocked on Social Media Over Surprise Pursuit of Stoke Striker Peter Crouch," 19 Jan. 2018
Big servings of humble pie such as this: C’mon Mike!

— rolando rosa, ajc, "LOOK: Mike & Mike host swallows pride, rocks Miami turnover chain after lost bet," 16 Nov. 2017
This season, with the Dolphins’ early struggles on offense — where the franchise ranks last in just about every important NFL statistical category — Gase is getting a dose of humble pie, and that could be a blessing in disguise.

— omar kelly, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Kelly: Offensive guru? It’s on Adam Gase to get Dolphins’ inconsistent offense going | Commentary," 17 Oct. 2017
Michigan -- fresh off its first loss and first serious bout of humble pie last week against Michigan State -- walked into Memorial Stadium expecting a test.

— nick baumgardner, Detroit Free Press, "Michigan football, Jim Harbaugh happy to find a way to win at Indiana," 14 Oct. 2017

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

First Known Use of humble pie

1830

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Learn More about humble pie

See words that rhyme with humble pie

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up humble pie? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

humble pie

Definition of humble pie

Recent Examples of humble pie from the Web

First Known Use of humble pie

Learn More about humble pie

Seen and Heard

WORD OF THE DAY

slew

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Test Your Vocabulary

Words at Play

The Fossil Encased in "Case In Point"

‘Sleight’ or ‘Slight’ of Hand?

'Complement' vs. 'Compliment'

Words from Letters in the Greek Alphabet

Ask the Editors

2017 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

Words of the Year: 1066

Literally

Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?

Word Games

Odd Habits and Quirks Quiz

More Confusing Words—Quiz

Spell It

SCRABBLE® Sprint

The Fossil Encased in "Case In Point"

Trending: 'Venom' Trailer Drives Searches for 'Symbiote'

Going Greek: 7 Words from the Greek Alphabet

Odd Habits and Quirks Quiz

2017 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

humble pie

Definition of humble pie

Recent Examples of humble pie from the Web

First Known Use of humble pie

Learn More about humble pie

Seen and Heard

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games

The Fossil Encased in "Case In Point"

Trending: 'Venom' Trailer Drives Searches for 'Symbiote'

Going Greek: 7 Words from the Greek Alphabet

Odd Habits and Quirks Quiz

2017 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes