humble pie

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See synonyms for humble pie on Thesaurus.com

noun

humility forced upon someone, often under embarrassing conditions; humiliation.

Obsolete. a pie made of the viscera and other inferior parts of deer or the like.

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Idioms about humble pie

eat humble pie, to be forced to apologize humbly; suffer humiliation: He had to eat humble pie and publicly admit his error.

Origin of humble pie

1640–50; earlier phrase an umble pie, erroneous for a numble pie;see numbles

Words nearby humble pie

humble, humblebee, humblebrag, humbled, humbleness, humble pie, humble plant, humbling, humbly, Humboldt, Humboldt Bay

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use humble pie in a sentence

What matters is being honest, humble, and a faithful and loyal friend, father and member of your community.
Abramoff’s Advice for Virginia’s New Jailhouse Guv|Tim Mak, Jackie Kucinich|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
They are to face oppression with humble persistence and absolute conviction.
Mexico’s Priests Are Marked for Murder|Jason McGahan|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Abramoff said that the governor needed to remember to “be humble.”
Abramoff’s Advice for Virginia’s New Jailhouse Guv|Tim Mak, Jackie Kucinich|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The process of co-opting black music and selling it back to the adoring public in whiteface is as American as apple pie.
The Cultural Crimes of Iggy Azalea|Amy Zimmerman|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST

His goal of coming across as humble subtracts from his ability to share just exactly how he became so great at such a young age.
The Story of the World’s Greatest Cricket Player|William O’Connor|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Sick, trembling, her beautiful face humble and tearful enough now, she bent it on his shoulder in a shower of bitter tears.
Elster's Folly|Mrs. Henry Wood
Having achieved this feat he sighed again, and applied himself assiduously to the pie.
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, v. 2(of 2)|Charles Dickens
This man by hard, manual labor makes only enough to pay for humble shelter and plain food.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
He at once bowed himself to the ground in gratitude, and in words of the most humble sort returned his thanks.
Our Little Korean Cousin|H. Lee M. Pike
In my humble opinion the Railway Commissioners have done much useful work and done it well.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland|Joseph Tatlow

British Dictionary definitions for humble pie

humble pie

noun

(formerly) a pie made from the heart, entrails, etc, of a deer

eat humble pie to behave or be forced to behave humbly; be humiliated

Word Origin for humble pie

C17: earlier an umble pie, by mistaken word division from a numble pie, from numbles offal of a deer, from Old French nombles, ultimately from Latin lumbulus a little loin, from lumbus loin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

humble pie

Idioms about humble pie

Origin of humble pie

Words nearby humble pie

Words related to humble pie

How to use humble pie in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for humble pie

Word Origin for humble pie