ignoble

American  

[ig-noh-buhl] / ɪgˈnoʊ bəl /

adjective

1. of low character, aims, etc.; mean; base.

   his ignoble purposes.

   Synonyms:

   contemptible, ignominious, dishonorable, degraded

   Antonyms:

   honorable

2. of low grade or quality; inferior.

   Antonyms:

   superior

3. not noble; of humble descent or rank.

   Synonyms:

   peasant, plebeian, obscure, lowly

4. Falconry. noting any hawk with short wings that chases or rakes after the quarry.

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ignoble British  

/ ɪɡˈnəʊbəl /

adjective

1. dishonourable; base; despicable

2. of low birth or origins; humble; common

3. of low quality; inferior

4. falconry

   1. designating short-winged hawks that capture their quarry by swiftness and adroitness of flight Compare noble

   2. designating quarry which is inferior or unworthy of pursuit by a particular species of hawk or falcon

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Other Word Forms

• ignobility noun
• ignobleness noun
• ignobly adverb

Etymology

Origin of ignoble

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin ignōbilis unknown, inglorious, equivalent to in- in- ³ + OL gnōbilis ( Latin nōbilis ) noble

Explanation

Ignoble means not noble, but for those of us that don’t live in feudal England and don’t worry about lords or peasants, ignoble just means base, or low, like that dude in Biology who’s always telling fart jokes. Ignoble means low, common, or humble, but we tend to use it to describe the lows of human nature, rather than economically humble people or places. So a picturesquely crumbing rustic cottage or a cool old diner is not ignoble, but perhaps a sketchy roadside bar is. Those that think that the human mind is the treasure of the world disdain ignoble animals like pigs or dogs––after all, they can’t compose lovely poems like we can.

Example Sentences

The ignoble battle ends when a neighbor, Mrs. Prothero, shouts that her house is on fire, “announcing ruin like a town crier in Pompeii.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025

“It has these very ignoble beginnings,” said Mark P. Nevitt, a law professor at Emory University and one of the country’s foremost experts on the statute.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 28, 2025

Simple, ignoble, under-appreciated green cabbage: It has got to be one of the most unpretentious and humblest in all of the Cruciferae family, if not among the entire vegetable kingdom.

From Salon • Mar. 14, 2024

He asserted that pretty much all accounts of cannibalism are hearsay, a propaganda tool by scholars of the British Empire to help tame the ignoble savage.

From New York Times • Jul. 1, 2023

There was nothing cruel about him, no ignoble passion.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White