ignominious

adjective

ˌig-nə-ˈmi-nē-əs How to pronounce ignominious (audio)
Definition of ignominiousnext
1
as in notorious
not respectable some of his friends considered the low-level job to be an ignominious fate for the laid-off executive

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in vile
not following or in accordance with standards of honor and decency the prison guards degraded themselves with their inhumane, ignominious treatment of the prisoners

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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 ignominious On the heels of becoming the first top seed to lose its regional opener, UCLA leaned into its late-game heroics to avoid ignominious history. — Josh Gross, Daily News, 31 May 2026 What was seen as the injustice of her ignominious end on the gallows was at least one factor of many that propelled a move to war. — Literary Hub, 26 May 2026 Everlane is not the only relic of the ethical consumption era to find itself in ignominious circumstances. — Phil Wahba, Fortune, 23 May 2026 In doing so, the TV adaptation fumbled the comics’ superior final act, turning Butcher’s own ignominious death at the hands of Hughie into an ineffective afterthought. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 20 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for ignominious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ignominious
  1. notorious
  2. vile
  3. infamous
  4. nasty
  5. criminal
  6. dirty
  7. shady
  8. ignoble
Adjective
  • Chicago has Back of the Yards, once adjacent to its notorious stockyards and not that far from Bubbly Creek, where methane and hydrogen sulfide gas once caused the South Fork of the Chicago River to make like a hot tub.
    — Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Disqualified is being presented at the MIA Market in Rome today as a TV drama inspired by one of real-life events surrounding Finland’s most notorious sporting scandals.
    — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of notorious
Adjective
  • Prosecutors reveal Ha used anonymous social media accounts to send dozens of vile antisemitic threats, leaking the victim’s home address and forcing their family to flee.
    — Staff, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2026
  • New additions include singer Tank, who plays vile music exec Eric Cropper and Jax’s main client, Beauty in Black star Taylor Polidore Williams as Eric’s wife Brooke, La La Anthony as Eric’s first wife Melina, and then Megan Good as Regina Harris.
    — Ronda Racha Penrice, HollywoodReporter, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of vile
Adjective
  • His pathetic, dangerous charade reminds me of an infamous voter fraud case from 30 years ago.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Disney+ and Hulu have greenlit a reboot of Ryan Murphy‘s famous (and infamous) musical dramedy series.
    — Selome Hailu, Variety, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of infamous
Adjective
  • The polls still show a close-range contest, but in the increasingly nasty ad war, the spending suggests a far more lopsided fight.
    — Philip Elliott, Time, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Officers then cuffed the youngster as he was loaded into an ambulance and hospitalized for a fractured femur and a nasty bruise on his head, according to the lawsuit, which was filed by the teen’s dad, Mahmoud Saleh, in Brooklyn Federal Court.
    — John Annese, New York Daily News, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of nasty
Adjective
  • Homeland Security Investigations agents also interviewed Adawag last week, according to the criminal complaint filed against her.
    — Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Martin Zummach, an attorney who represents the officer who fired the shot that killed Kohen, says the attorney general's findings cleared his client of criminal wrongdoing.
    — SOPHIE BATES, Arkansas Online, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of criminal
Adjective
  • The concentration of quaternary ammonia in the bucket with sanitizer is low (<100 ppm) and the water is visibly dirty.
    — NWA Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Online, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Many of the strongest initial applications are the dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks that go unfilled, contribute to injuries, and pull people away from higher-value judgment and exception handling.
    — Navin Chaddha, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of dirty
Adjective
  • Many shady electronics companies are happy to sell you the wrong component for the wrong price.
    — Tim Stevens, ArsTechnica, 19 Oct. 2026
  • The fake image was attention-grabbing, shady, and timely — in other words, perfect for social media virality but a potential liability for the parties involved.
    — Mia Sato, The Verge, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of shady
Adjective
  • The prizes’ name is a reference to Ignatius (Ig) Nobel—a fictional character said to be a distant cousin of Swedish inventor and industrialist Alfred Nobel, for whom the Nobel Prizes are named—and is also a pun on the word ignoble.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Aug. 2026
  • This is an ignoble war making monsters and fools out of its participants, and against the uncontrollable weapons that are dragons, everyone’s resolve is crumbling.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 18 June 2026
Definition of ignoble

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ignominious
ignominy
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Cite this Entry

“Ignominious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ignominious. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

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