1
as in meek
not having or showing any feelings of superiority, self-assertiveness, or showiness
a medical scientist who remained remarkably humble even after winning the Nobel Prize even though she'd been proven wrong, her attitude was still far from humble
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in low
belonging to the class of people of low social or economic rank
a humble peasant girl who claimed she was chosen by God to restore the French king to his throne
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3
as in servile
showing, expressing, or offered in a spirit of humility or unseemly submissiveness
please accept my humble thanks for this unexpected favor
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to humiliate
to reduce to a lower standing in one's own eyes or in others' eyes
Philip was utterly humbled by a crushing defeat in the first round of the state chess tournament
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of humble
Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 14 Sep. 2025
Luckily, the best ramen town in the country (in my humble opinion) is an easy day trip from Tokyo.
—Kim Kay, Travel + Leisure, 14 Sep. 2025
Kansas City Star, 12 Sep. 2025
Jones is a fairly accurate, experienced quarterback who has the new playbook down and who has been humbled a bit.
—Vic Tafur, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for humble
Adjective
Instead, Southern Living readers favored a slightly simpler recipe that despite its humble ingredients comes together to form a cake that's more than the sum of its parts.
—Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 14 Sep. 2025
Luckily, the best ramen town in the country (in my humble opinion) is an easy day trip from Tokyo.
—Kim Kay, Travel + Leisure, 14 Sep. 2025
Verb
So in this more cosmic sense, anyway, the Chiefs on Sunday hardly must beat visiting Philadelphia in a rematch of the humbling 40-22 TKO the Eagles administered in Super Bowl LIX.
—Kansas City Star, 12 Sep. 2025
Jones is a fairly accurate, experienced quarterback who has the new playbook down and who has been humbled a bit.
—Vic Tafur, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for humble
Recent Examples of Synonyms for humble
Adjective
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What threatened to be a meek, straight-sets exit for the 13th seed went full-metal crazy on match point down when Bonzi was interrupted from serving it out after a photographer absent-mindedly walked onto the court.—
Tim Ellis,
Forbes.com,
26 Aug. 2025
-
Social deficits can manifest as belligerent or meek.—
Tao Lin,
Harpers Magazine,
20 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
The report said that water storage in Washington’s five reservoirs in the Yakima River Basin has dropped sharply, bringing levels, at times, to some of the lowest measured since record-keeping started in 1971.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
14 Sep. 2025
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The ultra-low-cost model clearly isn't providing customer satisfaction, even if the fares look cheap.—
Christopher Elliott,
Forbes.com,
14 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Bahrain is ruled by Sunnis and has a mostly Shiite population permanently restless over its servile condition.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
13 June 2025
-
His servile defense secretary has threatened to deploy the military in other cities.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
13 June 2025
Verb
-
Continually moving the goalposts or using testing to humiliate or control can cause relational harm.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
14 Sep. 2025
-
And Sacks, a PayPal Mafia member and veteran Silicon Valley investor, is just the sort of titan of industry this town routinely devours and humiliates — from Rex Tillerson to, well, Elon Musk.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Combined with the tax credit and modest prices, making the jump to an EV now may be a wise decision.—
Ramon Padilla,
USA Today,
13 Sep. 2025
-
Falling consumption keeps price hike modest – up only 15% over five years.—
Jonathan Lansner,
Oc Register,
13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
One of the latest episode on his YouTube channel SciShow is all about knitting, and how science is elevating the lowly craft to a place of actual importance.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
11 Sep. 2025
-
A little lowly courier work, yes, but nothing more raffish than that.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Our narrator, a gay, happily married father of two disentangling himself from a poly love affair, is—depending on the light—brilliant, self-mythologizing, abject, hopeful, and vulnerable.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 Sep. 2025
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Weaknesses: About that quarterback: Caleb Williams was drafted No. 1 overall into a pretty favorable situation, making his rookie season an abject failure (particularly relative to the No. 2 pick).—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
26 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Holmes likewise discredited the MS-13 accusation, for which prosecutors relied on the testimony of coöperating witnesses who either contradicted one another or were otherwise unreliable.—
Cristian Farias,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
-
The Cordell report has since been discredited — missing transcripts, factual errors and even confusion of key witnesses.—
Matthew J. Frauenfeld,
Mercury News,
12 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Humble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/humble. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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