humiliate

verb

hu·​mil·​i·​ate hyü-ˈmi-lē-ˌāt 

yü-

humiliated; humiliating

transitive verb

: 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

humiliation

hyü-ˌmi-lē-ˈā-shən 

yü-

noun

Synonyms

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

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

He's humiliated by his brother in the brothel during Episode 3. —Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, 8 July 2024

Efforts to humble and humiliate Musk are flashed across the screen as former Black employees at Twitter in one-on-one interviews discuss the destruction of their years of labor and hard work to diversify the platform. —Taylor Crumpton, TIME, 10 May 2024

This will teach them an important lesson, rather than humiliate them or break them down. —Sarah Vanbuskirk, Parents, 26 June 2024

The central, quasi-Shakespearean intrigue — which revolves around Katherine’s potential exposure as a co-conspirator of Askew — is also handled adroitly, even if many of the scenes simply feature Henry’s gratuitously cruel efforts to humiliate Katherine. —Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 14 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin humiliatus, past participle of humiliare, from Latin humilis low — more at humble

First Known Use

circa 1534, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

humiliate

verb

hu·​mil·​i·​ate hyü-ˈmil-ē-ˌāt 

yü-

humiliated; humiliating

: to cause a loss of pride or self-respect : humble

humiliation

-ˌmil-ē-ˈā-shən 

noun

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.