ignominious

adjective

ig·​no·​min·​i·​ous ˌig-nə-ˈmi-nē-əs 

1

: humiliating, degrading

an ignominious defeat

2

: deserving of shame or infamy : despicable

an ignominious collaborator

3

: marked with or characterized by disgrace or shame : dishonorable

a cowardly life and ignominious death

ignominiously adverb

ignominiousness noun

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."

Synonyms of ignominious

• notorious
• infamous
• criminal
• shady
• disgraceful
• immoral
• shameful

Examples of ignominious in a Sentence

some of his friends considered the low-level job 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

Lisa’s fate was ignominious—thousands of unsold units were literally buried in a Utah landfill, an almost comical end for such a historically significant machine. —Tim Bajarin, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026

This will be one of the most ignominious Copa del Rey exits in Real Madrid’s entire history — up there with the 4-0 Copa del Rey defeat by third-tier Alcorcon during Manuel Pellegrini’s one season on the Bernabeu bench in October 2009. —Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2026

Houston’s 10th straight win was hardly a thing of beauty, as a thrilling opening weekend of the playoffs ended with a rock fight between two clubs trying to shed some ignominious playoff history. —Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2026

Houston’s 10th straight win was hardly a thing of beauty, as a thrilling opening weekend of the playoffs ended with a rock fight between clubs trying to shed some ignominious playoff history. —Will Graves, Twin Cities, 13 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

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Kids Definition

ignominious

adjective

ig·​no·​min·​i·​ous ˌig-nə-ˈmin-ē-əs 

: causing disgrace or shame

an ignominious defeat

ignominiously adverb