ignominious

American  

[ig-nuh-min-ee-uhs] / ˌɪg nəˈmɪn i əs /

adjective

1. marked by or attended with ignominy; discreditable; humiliating.

   an ignominious retreat.

   Synonyms:

   shameful , dishonorable , disgraceful , degrading

2. bearing or deserving ignominy; contemptible.

   Synonyms:

   ignoble , despicable

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Other Word Forms

• ignominiously adverb
• ignominiousness noun
• nonignominious adjective
• nonignominiously adverb
• nonignominiousness noun
• unignominious adjective
• unignominiously adverb
• unignominiousness noun

Etymology

Origin of ignominious

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English word from Latin word ignōminiōsus. See ignominy, -ous

Example Sentences

He was then fired from that next job in famously ignominious fashion: at LAX airport, at 3 a.m., while the team bus pulled away without him.

From The Wall Street Journal

After Odd’s ignominious exit from the dinner table, he and Buddy reach a fragile peace back at school, then lose touch.

From The Wall Street Journal

Their ignominious falls from grace are clear in the documentaries they feature in, from the glint of their handcuffs to the colour of their prison uniforms.

From BBC

Despite the ignominious end to his career, Diggs spent many years as a stellar legislator who became, as his biographer Marion Orr writes, “the most powerful Black politician on Capitol Hill.”

From The Wall Street Journal

In 2002, in perhaps one of the most ignominious episodes, the recycling center was dismantling Navy artillery shells — that were supposedly inert — when one exploded and a chunk of metal launched onto Jordan High’s campus.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• disgraceful
• embarrassing
• shameful