ignominious

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

Other Words from ignominious Synonyms & Antonyms Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about ignominious

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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."

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

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 The project never recovered from this ignominious retreat, and it was canceled in 1944. — Lucy Cooke, Washington Post, "The batty, explosive history of bats in the military — and why this new idea just might work," 2 July 2018 Germany joined a list of ignominious World Cup list Wednesday with its 2-0 loss to South Korea: defending champions to fail to advance from its group. — Pete Grathoff, kansascity, "Dirk Nowitzki and others react as Germany is knocked out of the World Cup," 27 June 2018 Why hasn't Pruitt joined that ignominious list yet? — Chris Cillizza, CNN, "Scott Pruitt: Tick, tick, tick...," 23 Apr. 2018 The project never recovered from this ignominious retreat, and it was canceled in 1944. — Lucy Cooke, Washington Post, "The batty, explosive history of bats in the military — and why this new idea just might work," 2 July 2018 No player who qualified for the batting title since 1900 has ever hit below .179, an ignominious honor that belongs to Rob Deer with the 1991 Detroit Tigers and Dan Uggla of the 2013 Atlanta Braves. — Jared Diamond, WSJ, "The Slugger Who Is on Track for the Worst Single Season in Baseball History," 8 July 2018 The bodies reached Hart Island on a ferry like all the others, in spare wooden boxes and bound for ignominious mass interment off the coast of the Bronx where New York City buries its unclaimed dead by the hundreds in long, shallow trenches. — Corey Kilgannon, New York Times, "Dead of AIDS and Forgotten in Potter’s Field," 3 July 2018 But added together, there are enough to put the Orioles on an ignominious pace. — Jon Meoli, baltimoresun.com, "Orioles' 58-loss first half on pace with the worst teams in modern baseball," 30 June 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.

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Last Updated

4 Oct 2018

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The first known use of ignominious was in the 15th century

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More Definitions for ignominious

ignominious

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of ignominious

: causing disgrace or shame

See the full definition for ignominious in the English Language Learners Dictionary

ignominious

adjective

ig·no·min·i·ous | \ˌig-nə-ˈmi-nē-əs

\

Kids Definition of ignominious

: disgraceful an ignominious defeat

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