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Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective ignoble differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of ignoble are abject, mean, and sordid. While all these words mean "being below the normal standards of human decency and dignity," ignoble suggests a loss or lack of some essential high quality of mind or spirit.

an ignoble scramble after material possessions

When would abject be a good substitute for ignoble?

In some situations, the words abject and ignoble are roughly equivalent. However, abject may imply degradation, debasement, or servility.

abject poverty

When could mean be used to replace ignoble?

The words mean and ignoble are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, mean suggests small-mindedness, ill temper, or cupidity.

mean and petty satire

When can sordid be used instead of ignoble?

The meanings of sordid and ignoble largely overlap; however, sordid is stronger than all of these in stressing physical or spiritual degradation and abjectness.

a sordid story of murder and revenge

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 ignoble My focus is down to the ignoble little health annoyances that seem to cap and even eclipse a major setback. John Updike, New Yorker, 11 July 2025 And bugs’ ignoble practices exert fascination on poets too. Hannah Brooks-Motl june 2, Literary Hub, 2 June 2025 Within hours, your unscrupulous corporate rivals bask in ignoble victory. Michael Ashley, Forbes.com, 30 May 2025 The janky but oddly addictive Friday the 13th: The Game goes offline for good at the end of the year — an ignoble but perhaps inevitable fate for an interactive slasher that’s been plagued by problems since its rocky launch in 2017. A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 13 Sep. 2024 See All Example Sentences for ignoble
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ignoble
Adjective
  • The organization’s Green Heart Project, which studies the impact of better air quality on heart disease through urban greening, has found that increasing the number of trees and shrubs in an area can create lower levels of a blood marker associated with inflammation.
    Maggie Menderski, Louisville Courier Journal, 26 Oct. 2025
  • Here is Carreras profiting from that exact ploy while playing for Benfica against Barcelona in the Champions League last season, sneaking forward on the far side before receiving the switch and hammering a low cross into striker Vangelis Pavlidis to score.
    Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Players have faced vile fan reactions and even death threats for their failure to satisfy bettors in the moment.
    Sally Jenkins, The Atlantic, 26 Oct. 2025
  • The Minnesota Vikings condemned the vile racist message defensive back Isaiah Rodgers received following the team’s 28-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
    Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Below that sits the pedestrian CLK 500 and plebeian CLK 350.
    Jeremy Korzeniewski, Robb Report, 26 Feb. 2025
  • Across the lake, on the plebeian side, up the shoreline a mile or so, in the heart of downtown West Palm Beach, stand twin 32-story towers dubbed Trump Plaza of the Palm Beaches.
    Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 8 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Two days later and nearly 400 miles to the west, good Samaritans found two baby girls crying on the dirty floor of a park restroom in the working-class coastal California city of Oxnard.
    Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Yellow or orange flames might indicate a problem with combustion or dirty burners.
    Lauren Bengtson, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • These once-humble activities are reclaiming their place not as quaint relics, but as powerful tools for well-being.
    Alesandra Dubin, Southern Living, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Ready to let the humble-yet-mighty brown work its magic in your wardrobe this fall?
    Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The human body holds several effective hiding spots that some of the world's nastiest viruses have discovered - like the eyes and the testes - that are beyond the reach of the immune system.
    NPR, NPR, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Another interesting point is that nasty anti-Trump name calling seemed toned down following the assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk.
    Peter Lucas, Boston Herald, 23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The president has been targeting Jeffries online with offensive and vulgar memes since the pair first had an unsuccessful sit-down meeting in the Oval Office just before the shutdown.
    Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 9 Oct. 2025
  • One room cracked up at a vulgar joke about a woman’s behind, while another went for an outrageous and surreal midfilm montage — but each bit was made genuinely funnier by the dozens of people gasping and wheezing over it.
    Robert Rubsam, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • It was considered immoral to lie and the whole point of writing things down back then was to increase morality and improve society, so there really is no didactic history of forgery.
    JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 16 Oct. 2025
  • Unlike previous seasons, Dorothy never makes immoral choices.
    Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Ignoble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ignoble. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.

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