humbling

[ huhm-bling, uhm- ]

adjective

1. causing a person to feel less proud, especially through awe, admiration, or gratitude:

   This project has involved some exceptionally talented people and it’s been a humbling experience to work with them.

2. lowering a person’s status, power, dignity, confidence, etc.:

   The 26:2 vote in favor of their opponents was indeed a humbling defeat.

noun

1. the act of affecting a person or thing in any of these ways, or the experience of being so affected:

   The Magna Carta marked the restoration of Anglo-Saxon freedom and the humbling of Norman tyranny.

Other Words From

• hum·bling·ly adverb
• self-hum·bling adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of humbling¹

First recorded in 1540–50; humbl(e) ( def ) + -ing ²( def ) for the adjective senses; humbl(e) ( def ) + -ing ¹( def ) for the noun sense

Example Sentences

Obese mice given HUMBLE or brown cells now weighed 20 percent more.

From Science News For Students

This week Natasha was on vacation, so Danny and your humble servant had to endeavor alone.

From TechCrunch

Yesterday Ocean Spray was humbled to gift Nathan with something of importance to him— a truck we knew he needed.

From Eater

If the idea that Darwin humbled us has become canonical, what is less often observed is the fact that the newfound humility was, in certain important respects, misleading—and dangerously so.

From Nautilus

In June, Paul attacked Fauci for not being more optimistic about the coronavirus, saying that Fauci wasn’t the “end-all” and that he should be more humble about what he didn’t know.

From Washington Post

To be the very first moment that we see on an episode of The Good Wife was quite a compliment and very humbling.

From The Daily Beast

The Humbling focuses on Simon Axler (Pacino), a veteran stage actor who loses the desire to act.

From The Daily Beast

Perry called his failed 2012 bid for the GOP nomination “painful” and “humbling.”

From The Daily Beast

The messy, complex, non-linear movement of actual history, by contrast, is unsettling, humbling—even terrifying.

From The Daily Beast

But it is a humbling reminder of how moral campaigns are actually won: with more than simple appeals to the heart.

From The Daily Beast

No small part of those energies in the business district were devoted to humbling the rival, in the matter of commerce.

From Project Gutenberg

I don't believe Marian needs humbling; one can't help liking her; and she's ever so good to look at.

From Project Gutenberg

She had succumbed to the monster, humbling herself below animals; and now she loved a hero, aspiring to the semi-divine.

From Project Gutenberg

It was a strange picture—this brilliant beauty, forgetful of pride and station, humbling herself to a poor candle seller.

From Project Gutenberg

Considering his late successes, we are surprised at his thus humbling himself to his foe.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• contempt
• degradation
• dishonor
• disrespect
• humiliation
• ignominy
• opprobrium
• reproach
• scorn
• stigma