indignity

[in-dig-ni-tee]

noun

plural

indignities 

1. an injury to a person's dignity; slighting or contemptuous treatment; humiliating affront, insult, or injury.

   Synonyms: outrage

2. Obsolete.,  disgrace or disgraceful action.

indignity

/ ɪnˈdɪɡnɪtɪ /

noun

1. injury to one's self-esteem or dignity; humiliation

2. obsolete,  disgrace or disgraceful character or conduct

Word History and Origins

Origin of indignity¹

First recorded in 1575–85; from Latin indignitās “unworthiness,” equivalent to indign(us) “undeserving, unworthy”( indign ) + -itās -ity

Synonym Study

See insult.

Example Sentences

This is an indignity for a party that has governed Japan more or less uncontested for decades.

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Park’s graphic elegance may be at odds with the awkward, idle indignities depicted onscreen, but the discrepancy between the two generates an edge-of-your-seat tension.

Read more on Salon

“Today, the Court needlessly subjects countless more to these exact same indignities.”

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"Today, the Court needlessly subjects countless more to these exact same indignities," she wrote.

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That view absolves us of trying to understand the systemic source of those indignities as something other than unkindness.

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Related Words

• injustice 
• insult 
• opprobrium