indignity
Americannoun
plural
indignities-
an injury to a person's dignity; slighting or contemptuous treatment; humiliating affront, insult, or injury.
- Synonyms:
- outrage
-
Obsolete. disgrace or disgraceful action.
noun
-
injury to one's self-esteem or dignity; humiliation
-
obsolete disgrace or disgraceful character or conduct
Related Words
See insult.
Etymology
Origin of indignity
First recorded in 1575–85; from Latin indignitās “unworthiness,” equivalent to indign(us) “undeserving, unworthy”( indign ) + -itās -ity
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.
Savers may be spared the indignity of seeing the returns on their cash dwindle to near nothing - although institutions sometimes don't need an excuse to reduce savings rates.
From BBC • Feb. 5, 2026
“Goodbye June” mulls over the beauty of life and the indignity of death, but never fully engages with either facet of our relatively short existence.
From Salon • Jan. 1, 2026
In once again going 3-0 down after three matches, they are left to battle against the indignity of a 5-0 clean sweep.
From BBC • Dec. 22, 2025
He would probably laugh his toothy laugh at the absurdity of it, because he was well aware of the first absurd indignity of his life in Lubbock.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025
It’s bad enough that the great city of San Francisco should suffer the indignity of a maximum security federal penitentiary in its midst without being subject to these sorts of sick and dangerous shenanigans.
From "Al Capone Does My Shirts" by Gennifer Choldenko
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.
