ignominious
Americanadjective
-
marked by or attended with ignominy; discreditable; humiliating.
an ignominious retreat.
- Synonyms:
- shameful, dishonorable, disgraceful, degrading
-
bearing or deserving ignominy; contemptible.
- Synonyms:
- ignoble, despicable
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of ignominious
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English word from Latin word ignōminiōsus. See ignominy, -ous
Explanation
Losing a football game stinks, but losing a game where, at the end, you are lying face down in a puddle of mud and the fans are burning effigies of you in the streets? That is an ignominious defeat. Although ignominious can modify other words, it is nearly always attached to "defeat." It derives from the word ignominy, which means public shame or defeat. Ignominy derives from the Latin in- "not" + a variant of nomen "name."
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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.
"Ignominious", "catastrophic" and "humiliating" were among the words used by Conservative MPs to describe the UK and the West's withdrawal from Afghanistan.
From BBC • Aug. 18, 2021
Ignominious endings to shows and movies have a way of mind-wiping the details that are legitimately meaningful.
From Salon • Apr. 23, 2021
Do you not catch a tone of wonder and a tone of triumph in this threefold particularising of the humanity, the lowly residence, and the Ignominious death?
From Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Mark by Maclaren, Alexander
Therefore the penal code—which much prefers intelligence to muscular vigor—has made, of the four varieties mentioned above, a second category, liable only to correctional, not to Ignominious, punishments.
From What is Property? by Proudhon, P.-J. (Pierre-Joseph)
Ignominious perhaps, but safe, and safety counts for something in this world; anyway, for the poor craven souls.
From We of the Never-Never by Gunn, Jeannie
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.
