ignominious

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adjective ig·no·min·i·ous \ ˌig-nə-ˈmi-nē-əs \

Definition of ignominious

1 :marked with or characterized by disgrace or shame :dishonorable

2 :deserving of shame or infamy :despicable

3 :humiliating, degrading

an ignominious defeat

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ignominiously

adverb

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ignominiousness

noun

See ignominious defined for English-language learners

See ignominious defined for kids

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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 of ignominious from the Web

But after two consecutive season-opening defeats to FCS teams, this year, surely, will be WSU’s time to finally snap that ignominious streak, right?

— stefanie loh, The Seattle Times, "Breaking down WSU’s schedule: Can the Cougars finally win a season-opener under Mike Leach?," 29 Aug. 2017
As Charles Black, Jr., explains in his classic 1974 handbook on the subject, some acts are not crimes but are sufficiently abusive or ignominious to render an individual unfit for the nation's highest office.

— chicagotribune.com, "Congress needs to open a formal impeachment inquiry," 28 Aug. 2017
The Union had an opportunity this past Saturday to join their Philadelphia sports brethren in one of the more ignominious chapters of the local history books: tales of being done wrong by a referee’s video replay.

— jonathan tannenwald, Philly.com, "Major League Soccer's debut of video replay a success, and not just for the Philadelphia Union," 9 Aug. 2017
His soundtrack for the ignominious walk back to the dugout was an encore of boos.

— carlos monarrez, Detroit Free Press, "Another Bruce Rondon flame out results in Tigers' 6-5 loss to Astros," 28 July 2017
The trio of women—pared down from the original eight—made their ignominious debut in the rocky fifth season of the popular fantasy series, standing at the center of the show’s maligned Dorne plot.

— joanna robinson, HWD, "Game of Thrones Star Explains Why the Sand Snakes Never Worked in the First Place," 24 July 2017
Two and a half days — before admitting bitter, ignominious defeat.

— tim woodward, idahostatesman, "Home improvement project got you down? Cheer up. This one was probably worse.," 14 July 2017
But the senator’s offer would let moderates and conservatives alike claim a symbolic victory — and avoid the ignominious prospect of working with Democrats to prop up Obamacare.

— eric levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "Ted Cruz Has a Proposal That Just Might Save Trumpcare," 29 June 2017
According to the State Department, China joins Russia, Syria and Iran in that ignominious distinction.

— barnini chakraborty, Fox News, "Trump turns up pressure on China amid N. Korea concerns," 27 June 2017

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.

Did You Know?

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."