humiliation

[ hyoo-mil-ee-ey-shuhnor, often, yoo- ]

noun

1. an act or instance of humiliating humiliating or being humiliated.
2. the state or feeling of being humiliated; mortification.

   Synonyms: dishonor, degradation

Other Words From

• rehu·mili·ation noun
• self-hu·mili·ation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of humiliation¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Late Latin humiliātiōn- (stem of humiliātiō ). See humiliate, -ion

Synonym Study

See shame.

Example Sentences

After Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, the country’s biggest ever military humiliation, Gallant was initially fully behind the war in Gaza.

From BBC

Residents say a speaker calling Puerto Rico garbage before a packed Donald Trump rally in New York was the latest humiliation for an island territory that has long suffered from mistreatment.

From Los Angeles Times

And through it all, Aaron Judge kept swinging, and missing, and missing, and missing, and manufacturing enough humiliation to lead to a single conclusion.

From Los Angeles Times

The Transformative Justice Collective, a group which campaigns against the death penalty, describes the DRC as a form of mandatory detention where prisoners face "humiliation" and "loss of liberties".

From BBC

You can take two things like joy as a form of release — just being silly, hilarious, naughty, irreverent — and emotions like pain, humiliation, then trauma and tragedy — and you can also have a release.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• confusion
• degradation
• disgrace
• ignominy
• indignity
• shame