ennoble
Americanverb (used with object)
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to elevate in degree, excellence, or respect; dignify; exalt.
a personality ennobled by true generosity.
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to confer a title of nobility on.
verb
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to make noble, honourable, or excellent; dignify; exalt
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to raise to a noble rank; confer a title of nobility upon
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."
Vocabulary lists containing ennoble
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
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"A Place to Call Home" by Scott Bittle and Jonathan Rochkind
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The Prince
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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.
Fort Bragg in North Carolina would be christened Fort Liberty as a reminder of the values that ennoble military service.
From Washington Post • Jul. 6, 2022
It’s a conviction that allows us to ennoble ourselves with pathos, with rueful maturity, with wisdom won too late.
From New York Times • Sep. 6, 2021
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
“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
Whereupon, he thought in his simplicity that since pure sweet women so ennoble men's lives, he, whatever happened, would always serve ladies.
From Studies in Medi?val Life and Literature by McLaughlin, Edward Tompkins
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.
