ignominious

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

Updated on: 20 Apr 2018

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

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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

Every week, the same ignominious bundle of herbs looks back at me from its shelf in the refrigerator.

— alex van buren, Health.com, "Why You Should Never Throw Away Parsley and Cilantro Stems," 6 Apr. 2018
Friday’s sentencing was an ignominious end to Ms. Park’s career.

— choe sang-hun, New York Times, "Park Geun-hye, South Korea’s Ousted President, Gets 24 Years in Prison," 6 Apr. 2018
That would be an ignominious milestone for the 33-year-old billionaire, and raises fears about government regulation for the company.

— dan gallagher, WSJ, "Tech’s Risk Bill Comes Due," 27 Mar. 2018
City Hall has its own starting five that should have the ignominious distinction of being Cincinnati's most embarrassing team.

— jason williams, Cincinnati.com, "PX column: Hey Cincinnati, here's another team of five to direct your anger toward," 19 Mar. 2018
And, with that, 70 years of retail history slid toward an ignominious end.

— Fortune, "Who Killed Geoffrey the Giraffe? Inside the Last Days of Toys 'R' Us," 16 Mar. 2018
Shkreli's downfall marks an ignominious end to what was once a promising career at the intersection of finance and pharma.

— bloomberg, latimes.com, "Martin Shkreli sentenced to seven years in prison," 9 Mar. 2018
Christiansen’s ascension to the top of the 35,000-employee agency follows the ignominious downfall this week of its former chief, Tony Tooke, amid allegations of relationships with subordinates.

— Washington Post, "US Forest Service interim chief confronts misconduct scandal," 9 Mar. 2018
The Huskies earned only the ignominious distinction of being the first in the 12-team league sent home from Orlando.

— dom amore, courant.com, "UConn's Dismal Season Ends With Loss To SMU In AAC Tournament," 8 Mar. 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.

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."