Synonyms of humble

humble 1 of 5

adjective (1)

ˈhəm-bəl 

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

• meek
• modest
• unassuming
• unaffected
• lowly
• timid
• down-to-earth
• unpretentious
• naive
• demure
• shy
• simple
• quiet
• passive
• deferential
• subdued
• submissive
• unassertive
• acquiescent
• compliant
• resigned
• unaggressive
• plain
• ingenuous
• bashful
• reserved
• unobtrusive
• diffident
• yielding
• sheepish
• shrinking
• retiring
• introverted
• mousy
• self-effacing
• cowering
• cringing
• self-deprecating
• self-deprecatory
• aw-shucks
• overmodest

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• arrogant
• haughty
• superior
• pretentious
• pompous
• conceited
• presumptuous
• supercilious
• imperious
• bumptious
• aggressive
• egotistic
• impudent
• assertive
• high-and-mighty
• confident
• uppity
• bold
• peremptory
• audacious
• cheeky
• lordly
• uppish
• forward
• huffy
• saucy
• brash
• cocky
• impertinent
• highfalutin
• high-handed
• brassy
• high-hat
• overweening
• smug
• chesty
• presuming
• egocentric
• overconfident
• prideful
• narcissistic
• hubristic
• cocksure
• boastful
• vain
• egoistic
• dominant
• self-assertive
• hoity-toity
• bombastic
• huffish
• vainglorious
• toplofty
• self-asserting
• condescending
• fastuous
• disdainful
• domineering
• self-confident
• patronizing
• showy
• swaggering
• flamboyant
• overbearing
• magisterial
• self-centered
• ostentatious
• dominating
• self-important
• self-complacent
• self-contented
• self-satisfied
• self-conceited
• outgoing
• stuck-up
• uninhibited
• self-congratulatory
• self-engrossed
• self-obsessed
• braggy
• self-affected
• self-pleased
• immodest
• swelled-headed
• unreserved
• extroverted
• pontificating

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• low
• lowly
• plebeian
• ignoble
• proletarian
• unwashed
• lower-class
• common
• poor
• vulgar
• inferior
• low-life
• lumpen
• mean
• lowborn
• prole
• simple
• middle-class
• baseborn
• bourgeois
• plain
• working-class
• déclassé
• downscale
• down-market

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• gentle
• noble
• great
• lofty
• high
• aristocratic
• grand
• genteel
• patrician
• upper-class
• prominent
• upper-crust
• illustrious
• eminent
• notable
• highborn
• blue-blooded
• highbred
• wellborn

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• meek
• servile
• abject
• menial
• base
• slavish
• modest
• unassuming
• sheepish
• lowly
• hangdog
• unpretentious
• retiring
• lamblike
• sycophantic
• demure
• fawning
• sycophant
• toadyish

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• arrogant
• haughty
• superior
• supercilious
• imperious
• uppity
• lordly
• high-handed

humble

2 of 5

verb (1)

ˈhəm-bəl 

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• humiliate
• discredit
• embarrass
• shame
• disgrace
• insult
• demean
• confuse
• take down
• dishonor
• abase
• degrade
• rattle
• chasten
• criticize
• cheapen
• debase
• lower
• smirch
• sink
• foul
• ridicule
• diminish
• disparage
• mortify
• minimize
• detract
• confound
• belittle
• faze
• affront
• discount
• disconcert
• write off
• discountenance
• condemn
• malign
• nonplus
• slander
• decry
• abash
• depreciate
• cry down
• damn
• fluster
• put down
• discomfit
• libel
• defame
• castigate
• defile
• bad-mouth
• denounce
• censure
• reprobate
• execrate
• reprehend

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• honor
• exalt
• praise
• elevate
• commend
• salute
• congratulate
• applaud
• recognize
• boast
• compliment
• cheer
• celebrate
• acknowledge
• aggrandize
• laud
• decorate
• deify
• canonize
• extol
• acclaim
• hail
• eulogize
• cite
• tout
• fete
• highlight
• spotlight
• dignify
• glorify
• ennoble
• play up
• promote
• lift
• raise
• uplift
• magnify
• advance
• enthrone
• enshrine
• boost
• upgrade
• idealize
• romanticize
• ensky

humbling

3 of 5

adjective (2)

as in humiliating

Related Words

• humiliating
• demeaning
• degrading
• mortifying
• unsettling
• difficult
• impossible
• unpleasant
• debasing
• confusing
• embarrassing
• troublesome
• intolerable
• inconvenient
• disagreeable
• unwieldy
• disconcerting
• uncomfortable
• disturbing
• discomfiting
• awkward
• flustering

Dissimilar Words

• convenient
• comfortable
• agreeable
• pleasing

humbling

4 of 5

noun

as in humiliation

Related Words

• humiliation
• abasement
• degradation
• dust
• debasing
• debasement
• disapproval
• contempt
• disapprobation
• blot
• disdain
• stigma
• despite
• stain
• deprecation
• taint
• scorn
• slur
• brand
• disfavor
• scandal
• spot
• shame
• ignominy
• disgrace
• smirch
• discredit
• shadow
• dishonor
• infamy
• disrepute
• reproach
• opprobrium
• odium
• obloquy
• disesteem

Dissimilar Words

• respect
• honor
• esteem
• appreciation
• regard
• admiration
• estimation
• fear
• awe
• glory
• reverence
• fame
• renown
• repute

humbling

5 of 5

verb (2)

present participle of humble

as in discrediting

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• humiliating
• discrediting
• embarrassing
• degrading
• confusing
• shaming
• chastening
• demeaning
• insulting
• disgracing
• debasing
• abasing
• rattling
• dishonoring
• taking down
• mortifying
• cheapening
• disconcerting
• lowering
• fouling
• criticizing
• discomfiting
• diminishing
• disparaging
• belittling
• sinking
• confounding
• ridiculing
• smirching
• minimizing
• detracting
• discounting
• depreciating
• flustering
• damning
• affronting
• decrying
• condemning
• castigating
• slandering
• maligning
• writing off
• nonplussing
• abashing
• fazing
• defaming
• defiling
• libeling
• crying down
• putting down
• discountenancing
• denouncing
• censuring
• bad-mouthing
• execrating
• reprehending
• reprobating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• exalting
• elevating
• cheering
• praising
• recognizing
• honoring
• commending
• aggrandizing
• applauding
• acknowledging
• citing
• celebrating
• congratulating
• deifying
• boasting
• lauding
• complimenting
• extolling
• hailing
• saluting
• decorating
• acclaiming
• canonizing
• eulogizing
• touting
• highlighting
• uplifting
• ennobling
• dignifying
• lifting
• spotlighting
• promoting
• glorifying
• magnifying
• advancing
• feting
• playing up
• raising
• enthroning
• enshrining
• upgrading
• boosting
• idealizing
• romanticizing
• enskying

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of humble

Adjective

Four humble ingredients come together inside a tortilla to make something transcendent — melty, fluid, fleetingly crunchy, soft, toothsome, rich and filling. — Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2026

Best Serving Tray Designer Sophie Lou Jacobson knows how to make even the most humble tableware pieces that much cooler. — Kate McGregor, Architectural Digest, 27 Aug. 2026

Verb

Copycat protests sprang up in other major Indian cities—Kolkata, Mumbai and Patna—lending the Gen Z protests the aura of a nationwide youth resistance that would humble Modi and force his education minister to resign. — Asim Ali, Time, 1 Aug. 2026

That isn’t enough to humble our black-eyed lout, but spending a few months as a dishwasher at The Flagship in exchange for getting to sleep on the head chef’s hammock soon will. — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 29 July 2026

Adjective

Being on an island starving is very humbling. — Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Jan. 2026

Those listeners are the ones who are our backbone, which is very humbling. — Erik Pedersen, Oc Register, 17 Oct. 2025

Noun

Shares dipped below their IPO price of $135 on Wednesday morning for the first time since listing, a humbling loss for the stock, which had skyrocketed more than 50% in its first days of trading last month. — Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2026

This has been a humbling tournament for Carlo Ancelotti and Thomas Tuchel. — The Athletic Uk Staff, New York Times, 16 July 2026

Verb

Watching a mother turtle haul herself ashore under a canopy of stars to lay her eggs is a truly primal and humbling sight. — Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 5 July 2026

But what Connecticut got was the top golfer in the world, at his very best at times, yet bitten in the end by the humbling nature of the most humbling of games. — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 29 June 2026