as in to discredit
to reduce to a lower standing in one's own eyes or in others' eyes
the reigning tennis champ was humiliated on the court by a newcomer who defeated him in straight sets
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of humiliate
Incompetent leadership humiliates us on the global stage.
—
Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 May 2026
Prosecutors allege Landon was deprived of nutrition, forced to drink from a toilet, forced to forage for food in the kitchen after bedtime, humiliated by his parents and isolated from other family members, neighbors and school, per TribLive and WTAE.
—Staff Author, PEOPLE, 6 May 2026
Trump has declared that the US will withdraw 5,000 – and probably many more – troops stationed in Germany, after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the US handling of the Iran conflict, saying Tehran had humiliated Washington.
—Tim Lister, CNN Money, 3 May 2026
The 2019 screen fiasco, which found countless ways to humiliate a cast that included Taylor Swift and Judi Dench, gave kitsch a bad name.
—Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for humiliate
Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 May 2026
Prosecutors allege Landon was deprived of nutrition, forced to drink from a toilet, forced to forage for food in the kitchen after bedtime, humiliated by his parents and isolated from other family members, neighbors and school, per TribLive and WTAE.
—Staff Author, PEOPLE, 6 May 2026
Trump has declared that the US will withdraw 5,000 – and probably many more – troops stationed in Germany, after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the US handling of the Iran conflict, saying Tehran had humiliated Washington.
—Tim Lister, CNN Money, 3 May 2026
The 2019 screen fiasco, which found countless ways to humiliate a cast that included Taylor Swift and Judi Dench, gave kitsch a bad name.
—Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for humiliate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for humiliate
Verb
-
But whereas leftist thinkers starting with Marx saw the liberal ideal as totally discredited, a mere camouflage for capitalist power, Habermas kept faith with the utopian potential of liberalism.—
Adam Kirsch,
The Atlantic,
3 May 2026
-
The apparent goal is to discredit accusers in public — then circulate the smears to their social circles — as well as demoralize adversaries amid legal disputes, forcing quiet settlements on preferred terms.—
Gary Baum,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Those involved may not want to push their expensive retro recreation to the limit but it is certainly got the potential to embarrass plenty of more modern machines.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
8 May 2026
-
Lutnick's voluntary closed-door interview comes amid a monthslong procession of powerful people summoned before the committee, many of whom have been subjected to embarrassing revelations in the more than 3 million pages of records known as the Epstein files.—
Graham Kates,
CBS News,
6 May 2026
Verb
-
In applications like data centers, where batteries may cycle multiple times a day, lithium-ion systems degrade relatively quickly.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
6 May 2026
-
Corning's optical solutions ensure that the data being sent between servers doesn't degrade — a risk with the copper wires used historically before the era of agentic AI computing.—
Zev Fima,
CNBC,
6 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Humiliate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/humiliate. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
