humbling
Americanadjective
-
causing a person to feel less proud, especially through awe, admiration, or gratitude.
This project has involved some exceptionally talented people and it’s been a humbling experience to work with them.
-
lowering a person’s status, power, dignity, confidence, etc..
The 26:2 vote in favor of their opponents was indeed a humbling defeat.
noun
Other Word Forms
- humblingly adverb
- self-humbling adjective
Etymology
Origin of humbling
First recorded in 1540–50; humbl(e) ( def. ) + -ing 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses; humbl(e) ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. ) for the noun sense
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.
The courage and resilience of the people I have met since, who have managed, despite terrible loss and adversity, to turn their shattered lives around, is both humbling and awe-inspiring.
From BBC
“It was a humbling experience for a lot of sophisticated financial investors to see such an irrational behavior driving markets so violently,” says Mudrick.
From Barron's
Their confidence was dented further in midweek by a 3-0 Champions League humbling by Liverpool at the Stade Velodrome which left their hopes of reaching the knockout phase on a knife-edge.
From Barron's
On a numbingly cold Tuesday evening in the Arctic Circle, Premier League giants City were "battered in Bodo" , suffering a humbling 3-1 Champions League defeat.
From BBC
“I don’t know,” he said, less than 24 hours after another humbling Chargers playoff loss.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
