- present participle of humiliate.
humiliating
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
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.
Paul Scanlon, from Cardiff, has had a stoma for nearly four years after being diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer, external and said he had suffered "degrading" and "humiliating" treatment at UK airports.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Carroll testified in court, a process he says was "humiliating and embarrassing and absolutely horrendous".
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Did the Rams’ humiliating season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Australia make you reevaluate your preseason choices?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
But what felt humiliating in the moment became liberating.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
The most humiliating aspect of his successive defeats was that he had not garnered a single vote.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
