ennoble
Americanverb (used with object)
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to elevate in degree, excellence, or respect; dignify; exalt.
a personality ennobled by true generosity.
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to confer a title of nobility on.
verb
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to make noble, honourable, or excellent; dignify; exalt
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to raise to a noble rank; confer a title of nobility upon
Other Word Forms
- ennoblement noun
- ennobler noun
- ennobling adjective
- ennoblingly adverb
- unennobled adjective
- unennobling adjective
Etymology
Origin of ennoble
1425–75; late Middle English ennobelen < Middle French, Old French ennoblir. See en- 1, noble
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.
One of U2’s enduring strengths has been the way its songs ennoble yearning and turbulence.
From New York Times • Mar. 17, 2023
The number of people who, out of civic generosity, think that they can enlarge or ennoble their selves by giving their energies to a good larger than themselves?
From Salon • May 27, 2019
“I think I know who Virginians are — I think they want somebody who will ennoble and uplift and motivate rather than divide.”
From Washington Times • Nov. 5, 2018
It feels wrong to ennoble any of this with high-flown terms like “rhetoric,” just as it is a stretch to describe much of what media personalities tweet, post or say as “journalism.”
From Washington Post • Sep. 22, 2016
At one and twenty she was a beautiful woman, with that nameless air of distinction which can ennoble the plainest face and figure.
From Diana Tempest, Volume I (of 3) by Cholmondeley, Mary
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.
