as in humiliating
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as in embarrassing
to throw into a state of self-conscious distress
was mortified by her children's atrocious manners
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of mortifying
Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 12 Dec. 2025
The answer might be a mortifying surprise.
—The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Oct. 2025
The mortifying moment comes at a time when international tourism continues to rebound strongly despite global uncertainty.
—Soo Kim, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Sep. 2025
What feels energizing to one person can feel mortifying to another.
—Benjamin Laker, Forbes.com, 26 Aug. 2025
Sean Gregory, Time, 18 Feb. 2026
Ursula Lindsey The Norwegian writer Vigdis Hjorth has a gift for depicting painful, confusing, and mortifying relationships.
—Joanna Walsh, The New York Review of Books, 15 Nov. 2025
And that display from our fans was mortifying.
—Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 30 Sep. 2025
The people who have the most money and power are the first to give up, and, frankly, that should be mortifying for them.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
Even more fortunately, TJ also has a real, if mortifying, alibi.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 12 Dec. 2025
The answer might be a mortifying surprise.
—The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Oct. 2025
The mortifying moment comes at a time when international tourism continues to rebound strongly despite global uncertainty.
—Soo Kim, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Sep. 2025
What feels energizing to one person can feel mortifying to another.
—Benjamin Laker, Forbes.com, 26 Aug. 2025
Verb
Classmates saw the sign while riding by Goepper’s home on the school bus, mortifying the teenage Goepper.
—Sean Gregory, Time, 18 Feb. 2026
Ursula Lindsey The Norwegian writer Vigdis Hjorth has a gift for depicting painful, confusing, and mortifying relationships.
—Joanna Walsh, The New York Review of Books, 15 Nov. 2025
And that display from our fans was mortifying.
—Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 30 Sep. 2025
The people who have the most money and power are the first to give up, and, frankly, that should be mortifying for them.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mortifying
Adjective
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After 647 days in limbo, a Palestinian family endures a grueling, humiliating journey through checkpoints and confiscations to return to war-scarred Gaza.—
Nabih Bulos,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Feb. 2026
-
The move was seen as a brutal and humiliating exercise in damage limitation.—
NBC News,
NBC news,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Fairchild played the free-wheeling bon vivant Nora Tyler Bing on five episodes of the sitcom classic, unwittingly embarrassing Perry's Chandler Bing to the delight of his pals.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
16 Feb. 2026
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One day, Will goes viral after embarrassing ROAR league MVP, Mane Attraction (Aaron Pierre), during a streetball challenge, prompting his favorite team, the Vineland Thorns, to sign him to a season-ending contract in a desperate attempt to juice ticket sales.—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
11 Feb. 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
Verb
-
The citizens of Texas are confusing hospitality for complacency.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Registration deadlines, confusing rules and inconsistent access make participation harder at the very moment young people become eligible to vote.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Former detainees and human rights organizations have documented systematic torture and severe abuses inside the facility, including beatings, electric shocks, suspension by limbs, prolonged stress positions and other degrading treatment.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
31 Jan. 2026
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Currently the funds spent by governments and the private sector on destroying biodiversty and degrading cosystems like forests and seagrasses are 30 times larger than the flows supporting conservation, restoration and protection of the natural world.—
Nick Nuttall,
Forbes.com,
28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Never mind that the statuettes were meant to be demeaning.—
Judith Shulevitz,
The Atlantic,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Sure, the demeaning bigotry cannot be ignored, and the post was just after armed federal agents burst into a hotel room to arrest the unarmed Black journalist Don Lemon, and the National Park Service removed a slavery exhibit in Philadelphia.—
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld,
Time,
7 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mortifying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mortifying. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.
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