humiliate
verb
hu·mil·i·ate
hyü-ˈmi-lē-ˌāt 
yü-
humiliated; humiliating
: 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
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
There was this huge peak between 2000 and about 2018 where there was a decentralized anti-Fascist movement that’s responsible for Richard Spencer going home, for Matthew Heimbach being humiliated.
—
Fiction Non Fiction, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
Pressing for payment could humiliate people, who often arrive with their extended families, Parmar explained, and in a community this close-knit, that could mean losing dozens of patients, including many of the Medicaid patients who keep the clinic afloat.
—Helen Ouyang, The Atlantic, 21 Oct. 2025
LaBella alleges that she was traumatized and humiliated by the experience.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 16 Oct. 2025
We were crushed, humiliated, and broken, after our city was destroyed, occupied and erased from existence.
—Ruth Margalit, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for humiliate
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Fiction Non Fiction, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
Pressing for payment could humiliate people, who often arrive with their extended families, Parmar explained, and in a community this close-knit, that could mean losing dozens of patients, including many of the Medicaid patients who keep the clinic afloat.
—Helen Ouyang, The Atlantic, 21 Oct. 2025
LaBella alleges that she was traumatized and humiliated by the experience.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 16 Oct. 2025
We were crushed, humiliated, and broken, after our city was destroyed, occupied and erased from existence.
—Ruth Margalit, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for humiliate
Cite this Entry
“Humiliate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/humiliate. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
humiliate
verb
hu·mil·i·ate
hyü-ˈmil-ē-ˌāt
yü-
humiliated; humiliating
: to cause a loss of pride or self-respect : humble
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.
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share