ennoble

American  

[en-noh-buhl] / ɛnˈnoʊ bəl /

verb (used with object)

ennobled, ennobling

1. to elevate in degree, excellence, or respect; dignify; exalt.

   a personality ennobled by true generosity.

2. to confer a title of nobility on.

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ennoble British  

/ ɪˈnəʊbəl /

verb

1. to make noble, honourable, or excellent; dignify; exalt

2. to raise to a noble rank; confer a title of nobility upon

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Other Word Forms

• ennoblement noun
• ennobler noun
• ennobling adjective
• ennoblingly adverb
• unennobled adjective
• unennobling adjective

Etymology

Origin of ennoble

1425–75; late Middle English ennobelen < Middle French, Old French ennoblir. See en- ¹, noble

Explanation

To ennoble someone is to make them a Lord or a Baroness — to bestow a noble title upon them. The Queen of England has the power to ennoble people, turning Paul McCartney into Sir Paul McCartney, for example. One way to use the verb ennoble is to mean, literally, "make someone a noble or a member of the nobility." It can also mean "bestow or lend dignity to" or "make dignified." You could say, "Reading great books ennobles the mind," or "Treating others with kindness ennobles a person." Ennoble comes from the Old French ennoblir, from the prefix en-, "put in," and the Latin root nobilis, "excellent, superior, or splendid."

Example Sentences

The number of people who, out of civic generosity, think that they can enlarge or ennoble their selves by giving their energies to a good larger than themselves?

From Salon • May 27, 2019

The Greek terms ennoble the ailments, even if they don’t make them go away.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 7, 2019

“I think I know who Virginians are — I think they want somebody who will ennoble and uplift and motivate rather than divide.”

From Washington Times • Nov. 5, 2018

It’s a little like Francois Truffaut’s claim that “There is no such thing as an antiwar film,” because to depict war is to ennoble it.

From New York Times • Apr. 2, 2017

I am grateful for her partiality; but where is the dignity that might ennoble it, or the delicacy that might make it as refined as it is flattering?

From The Wanderer (Volume 1 of 5) or, Female Difficulties by Burney, Fanny