ignominious

[ig-nuh-min-ee-uhs]

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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of ignominious¹

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

Example Sentences

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.”

Read more on 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.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Bush, had proclaimed the birth of a “new world order,” and the less said about that ignominious phrase, the better.

Read more on Salon

The number of whales getting tangled up in fishing nets, line, buoys and other miscellaneous rope off the coasts of the United States hit a record high in 2024, with California taking the ignominious lead.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

This was the book described on the National Museum of the American Latino website, prompting the ignominious “Californio” mention in the White House news release.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• disgraceful 
• embarrassing www.thesaurus.com
• shameful