humble

o·ver·hum·ble, adjectiveo·ver·hum·ble·ness, nouno·ver·hum·b·ly, adverbqua·si-hum·ble, adjectivequa·si-hum·b·ly, adverbself-hum·bling, adjectiveun·hum·ble, adjectiveun·hum·ble·ness, nounun·hum·b·ly, adverbun·hum·bled, adjective

Synonym study

7. Humble, degrade, humiliate suggest lowering or causing to seem lower. To humble is to bring down the pride of another or to reduce him or her to a state of abasement: to humble an arrogant enemy. To degrade is to demote in rank or standing, or to reduce to a low level in dignity: to degrade an officer; to degrade oneself by lying. To humiliate is to make others feel or appear inadequate or unworthy, especially in some public setting: to humiliate a sensitive person.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for humblest

She was born into the humblest of Birmingham neighborhoods, to a mother who had been a butcher and a TV-salesman dad.
Gillian Wearing: One of Today's 10 Most Important Artists|Blake Gopnik|June 5, 2011|DAILY BEAST
With genuine artists, even of the humblest sort, he was always on good terms.
Richard Wagner|John F. Runciman
In the humblest forms of being we can trace scarcely anything besides a definite action in a few of the faculties.
Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation|Robert Chambers
If the humblest servant in my house pointed a scornful finger at me and cried 'Coward,' I would bow my head.
John Splendid|Neil Munro

The humblest and poorest man in Virginia was not more unpretentious than John Marshall.
The Life of John Marshall Volume 4 of 4|Albert J. Beveridge
The case I allude to is that of an invalid woman who belongs to the humblest class of society.
Mysterious Psychic Forces|Camille Flammarion

British Dictionary definitions for humblest

humble

/ (ˈhʌmbəl) /

adjective

conscious of one's failings

unpretentious; lowlya humble cottage; my humble opinion

deferential or servile

verb (tr)

to cause to become humble; humiliate

to lower in status

Derived Forms

humbled, adjectivehumbleness, nounhumbler, nounhumbling, adjective

humblingly, adverbhumbly, adverb

Word Origin for humble

C13: from Old French, from Latin humilis low, from humus the ground

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

Word Origin and History for humblest (1 of 2)

humble

adj.

mid-13c., from Old French humble, earlier humele, from Latin humilis "lowly, humble," literally "on the ground," from humus "earth." Senses of "not self-asserting" and "of low birth or rank" were both in Middle English Related: Humbly; humbleness.

Don't be so humble; you're not that great. [Golda Meir]

To eat humble pie (1830) is from umble pie (1640s), pie made from umbles "edible inner parts of an animal" (especially deer), considered a low-class food. The similar sense of similar-sounding words (the "h" of humble was not pronounced then) converged in the pun. Umbles, meanwhile, is Middle English numbles "offal" (with loss of n- through assimilation into preceding article).

Word Origin and History for humblest (1 of 2)

humble

late 14c. in the intransitive sense of "to render oneself humble;" late 15c. in the transitive sense of "to lower (someone) in dignity;" see humble (adj.). Related: Humbled; humbling.

Idioms and Phrases with humblest

humble

see eat crow (humble pie).

humble

adjective, hum·bler, hum·blest.

verb (used with object), hum·bled, hum·bling.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of humble

Synonym study

Examples from the Web for humblest

British Dictionary definitions for humblest

humble

adjective

verb (tr)

Word Origin for humble

Word Origin and History for humblest (1 of 2)

humble

Word Origin and History for humblest (1 of 2)

humble

Idioms and Phrases with humblest

humble