as in humiliated
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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Recent Examples of humbled
To be humbled and awed by the 7-story screen, every square inch of vision filled with movie, ready to sink into the textures and colors of 70mm film.
—
Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 26 Sep. 2025
Little Penn would be awed and humbled.
—Sophie Ansari, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2025
He’s never been humbled before.
—Leia Mendoza, Variety, 24 Sep. 2025
In a message to the campus after taking over, Bierschbach said he was humbled by the chance to lead Wayne State.
—John Wisely, Freep.com, 18 Sep. 2025
The reality is that in the NFL, everyone eventually gets humbled.
—Mark Lasota, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
Sixteen days after Inter Miami left Seattle’s Lumen Field humbled and embarrassed by a 3-0 loss to the Sounders in a heated Leagues Cup final that ended in an ugly postgame brawl, the teams meet again in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday night.
—Miami Herald, 15 Sep. 2025
But plenty of household media names have been humbled by the shifting habits of digital consumers.
—Stefan Fatsis, The Atlantic, 13 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
Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 26 Sep. 2025
Little Penn would be awed and humbled.
—Sophie Ansari, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2025
He’s never been humbled before.
—Leia Mendoza, Variety, 24 Sep. 2025
In a message to the campus after taking over, Bierschbach said he was humbled by the chance to lead Wayne State.
—John Wisely, Freep.com, 18 Sep. 2025
The reality is that in the NFL, everyone eventually gets humbled.
—Mark Lasota, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
Sixteen days after Inter Miami left Seattle’s Lumen Field humbled and embarrassed by a 3-0 loss to the Sounders in a heated Leagues Cup final that ended in an ugly postgame brawl, the teams meet again in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday night.
—Miami Herald, 15 Sep. 2025
But plenty of household media names have been humbled by the shifting habits of digital consumers.
—Stefan Fatsis, The Atlantic, 13 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for humbled
Verb
-
Sitting in class next to a star athlete destined for Division I football, the future comedy mogul listened as his teacher publicly humiliated him in front of his peers.—
Essence,
Essence,
2 Oct. 2025
-
Is he humiliated by being asked to leave surreptitiously for Olivia’s amusement, or is this a game for him too?—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Over time, as research increasingly pointed to genetics as a major factor in autism, the theory was discredited.—
Juliana Kim,
NPR,
26 Sep. 2025
-
But many climate scientists have discredited this argument, saying that freezing events can take place even amid climate change—but as time goes on, those cold events will happen less often and won’t last as long.—
Chantelle Lee,
Time,
23 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The Revolution provided a brief scare through a 59th-minute goal from Dor Turgeman, who embarrassed a defender before curling home a spectacular effort, but Inter Miami broke the tie almost immediately after the strike that made the score 2-1.—
Franco Panizo,
Miami Herald,
5 Oct. 2025
-
Me, a beautiful and clever five-time Emmy-winning writer with a few Wednesday nights free, and The Golden Bachelor, a heartwarming and adorable exploration of women’s second acts with a male doofus at the center who has already embarrassed himself.—
Ali Barthwell,
Vulture,
25 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Humbled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/humbled. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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