humiliating
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
- humiliatingly adverb
- self-humiliating adjective
- unhumiliating adjective
- unhumiliatingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of humiliating
First recorded in 1750–60; humiliat(e) + -ing 2
Explanation
When something humiliating happens to you, it makes you feel embarrassed and ashamed. Your humiliating haircut might force you to wear a stocking cap to work. Something that humbles you and makes you feel foolish is humiliating: it's humiliating to sing your song for the school talent show in the wrong key, and it's even more humiliating when the audience laughs. Admitting defeat in a competition or battle is often described as humiliating, as are most kinds of public embarrassment. The noun humiliation came first, from the same root as humble, the Latin humilis, "lowly, humble," and literally, "on the ground."
Vocabulary lists containing humiliating
Fish in a Tree
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The Wednesday Wars
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Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In October 1905, after Russia had suffered a humiliating military defeat to Japan, Nicholas was compelled to sign a constitutional manifesto that overturned political life in the country.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
She said that as a dyscalculic student that was a "really humiliating and mortifying experience".
From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026
But I ultimately decided I couldn’t let someone else go through my stuff—my lack of organization was humiliating.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026
A humiliating incident in a pool surrounded by her repulsed classmates echoes an iconic scene from “Carrie,” with Ducournau crafting an analogy for traumatic adolescent rites of passage like menstruation.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
So I had to take my tray and find a place to squeeze in at Amos’s table, which was kind of humiliating.
From "Auggie & Me" by R. J. Palacio
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
