Definition of IGNOMINIOUS

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The "-nom-" of "ignominious" comes from "nomen," the Latin word for "name" or "repute." (It's also the root of "misnomer," "nomenclature," and "nominal," among others.) The "ig-" part of the word is akin to the negative prefix in-; when joined to the root "-nom-," it indicates the namelessness that goes with shame or dishonor. To suffer an ignominious fate is to lose the opportunity to make a name for oneself or to lose one's good name. When "ignominious" was first borrowed from a French form of the word in the 15th century, it meant "disgraced" or "dishonorable." "Ignominious" continues to have such meanings, but it also has somewhat milder meanings - "embarrassing" and "humiliating."

Examples of ignominious in a Sentence

some of his friends considered the job of janitor to be an ignominious fate for the laid-off executive the prison guards degraded themselves with their inhumane, ignominious treatment of the prisoners

Recent Examples on the Web

Danny's compassionate nature is weakness in her eyes, and Davos internalizes that lesson, particularly after his ignominious defeat by an upstart outsider. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "Iron Fist’s second Netflix season mostly lives up to its promising trailer," 10 Sep. 2018 The Croats went on to win 3-0 - a result which leaves La Albiceleste on the brink of an ignominious early exit - and Caballero was at fault, lifting the ball up for Ante Rebic to volley home. — SI.com, "José Mourinho Slams Argentina Keeper Before Disastrous Error Against Croatia," 22 June 2018 Yet despite these accomplishments, be assured most university presidents and faculty yearn for Mr. Daniels’s failure and ignominious exit. — WSJ, "Boilermakers Are a Model for College Cost Cuts," 19 Dec. 2018 But Donald Trump and the ignominious Trump University don’t come into the picture till about 80 minutes into this 93-minute documentary by Alexander Shebanow. — John Anderson, WSJ, "‘Fail State’ Review: Schools That Don’t Make the Grade," 14 Dec. 2018 In advance of the ignominious upcoming removal, the Steam version of the game will be discounted 90 percent starting Saturday, May 13, from its current price of $30 (£23) to an extremely low price of $3 (~£2). — Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, "Alan Wake returns to digital storefronts after music rights snafu [Updated]," 26 Oct. 2018 And the damaged Rembrandt is hardly the only Old (or modern) Master to suffer an ignominious turn. — Chloe Schama, Vogue, "How to Get a Priceless Painting Across an Ocean? In Louis Vuitton, Of Course," 8 Oct. 2018 Another ignominious first for the league: No high-major since 1996–97 had failed to put a team in the round of 32. — Chris Johnson, SI.com, "March Madness Day 1 Takeaways: Loyola-Chicago Provides a Spark; SEC Shines While Pac-12 Flops," 16 Mar. 2018 Smith was embittered by the ignominious loss of his home state in 1928 and the underwhelming margin in his own city. — Sam Roberts, New York Times, "Trailblazers in Politics and Civil Rights," 19 Apr. 2018

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