ignominy

noun

ig·no·mi·ny ˈig-nə-ˌmi-nē

-mə-nē,

also ig-ˈnä-mə-nē

plural ignominies

Synonyms of ignominy next

: deep personal humiliation and disgrace

: disgraceful or dishonorable conduct, quality, or action

Choose the Right Synonym for ignominy

disgrace, dishonor, disrepute, infamy, ignominy mean the state or condition of suffering loss of esteem and of enduring reproach.

disgrace often implies humiliation and sometimes ostracism.

sent home in disgrace

dishonor emphasizes the loss of honor that one has enjoyed or the loss of self-esteem.

preferred death to life with dishonor

disrepute stresses loss of one's good name or the acquiring of a bad reputation.

a once proud name fallen into disrepute

infamy usually implies notoriety as well as exceeding shame.

a day that lives in infamy

ignominy stresses humiliation.

the ignominy of being arrested

Examples of ignominy in a Sentence

She had to endure the ignominy of being forced to resign. the small ignominies that are a part of everyone's life

Recent Examples on the Web After months of ignominy, after having to watch Bo Nix dismantle the Pac-12, after witnessing a corpse walk the sidelines on Pat Dye Field, finally, beautifully, Auburn fired one of the worst football coaches in the history of the SEC. —

Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, 2 Aug. 2023 By 1996, the experiment was over, saving Birmingham the ignominy of losing a franchise to Shreveport. —

Mark Inabinett | Minabinett@al.com, al, 24 Aug. 2023 Rahm rescued Augusta National from the ignominy of having to put a green jacket on LIV Golf escapee Brooks Koepka, currently suspended by the PGA Tour, who led by four strokes when the day began and ended up losing by four, a massive eight-shot swing in Rahm’s favor. —

Christine Brennan, USA TODAY, 10 Apr. 2023 No British Prime Minister’s political career has ended in such official ignominy. —

Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 21 July 2023 The Heat escaped ignominy, beating the Celtics 103-84 in Game 7 on Monday night in Boston. —

Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY, 30 May 2023 For the moment, Everton’s focus — like that of its bottom-of-the-table rivals Leicester City and Leeds United — is to avoid the ignominy (and potential financial ruin) of relegation. —

Tariq Panja, New York Times, 26 May 2023 The show hangs on the performance of Leo himself, played in this case by Ben Platt, who is back on Broadway for the first time since his rapid rise to stage fame in Dear Evan Hansen and subsequent ignominy in its film adaptation. —

Vulture, 16 Mar. 2023 Hernandez proceeded to tell the story of the plane crash, its victims, the ignominy of their erasure and his journey to resurrect their stories and share them with the world. —

Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ignominy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle French or Latin; Middle French ignominie, from Latin ignominia, from ig- (as in ignorare to be ignorant of, ignore) + nomin-, nomen name, repute — more at name

First Known Use

1540, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of ignominy was in 1540

See more words from the same year