humiliate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Synonym Usage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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humiliationnoun
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humiliatornoun
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rehumiliateverb (used with object)
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humiliatedadjective
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humiliatingadjective
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humiliativeadjective
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humiliatoryadjective
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humiliatinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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humiliatesimple
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humiliatessimple
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have humiliatedperfect
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has humiliatedperfect
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am humiliatingprogressive
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are humiliatingprogressive
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is humiliatingprogressive
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have been humiliatingperfect progressive
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has been humiliatingperfect progressive
Past
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humiliatedsimple
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had humiliatedperfect
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was humiliatingprogressive
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were humiliatingprogressive
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had been humiliatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of humiliate
First recorded in 1525–35; from Late Latin humiliātus (past participle of humiliāre “to humble”), equivalent to Latin humili(s) humble + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
Humiliate means to make someone feel ashamed or stupid, often publicly. It would humiliate all but the most self-assured person to realize that everyone else in the room has noticed their fly is down. For many, the experience of high school seems designed to humiliate teens––under the microscope of public scrutiny that is the high school community, every break up, every bad-hair day, every forgotten homework assignment humiliates kids in ways adults rarely understand.
Vocabulary lists containing humiliate
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney
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Words for the High School Graduate
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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.
See Examples For:
After the embarrassment of 2018, they simply couldn’t humiliate themselves on home soil.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Northampton scored 14 tries to humiliate Bristol at Franklin's Gardens and confirm their place in the Prem semi-finals.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
“For years I have had to relive some of the hardest moments of my life while facing attempts to shame, humiliate and discredit me in open court,” Mann continued.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
As Rue muses in a voiceover, she’s beautiful, directionless and “so desperate for attention she’s willing to humiliate herself.”
From Salon ● May 4, 2026
“Because let us understand: North Vietnam cannot defeat or humiliate the United States. Only Americans can do that.”
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
Critics say Philips doesn't just challenge those beliefs - he humiliates the people who hold them.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
The league says its operations manual strictly prohibits bullying and hazing, which is defined as behavior that “harms, intimidates, offends, degrades, threatens, or humiliates another person or creates a risk to their health or safety.”
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 21, 2023
Dream wins and humiliates the Lord of Hell, after which she swears revenge.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2022
That duality is reflected giddily in the early scene in which he sits at a keyboard and humiliates Salieri with a heavenly variation on the prosaic march the older maestro has written in his honor.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 12, 2019
My mother’s anger humiliates me; her words chafe my cheeks, and I am crying.
From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
"Girls have described feeling sexualised or humiliated when told to 'cover up', even when that is not the intention. That experience has serious consequences for self-esteem, trust and mental health."
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
“An entire nation is being humiliated by Iranian leaders and the so-called revolutionary guards,” Merz said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
It also claims that OpenAI’s alleged misrepresentations about its tools have caused professionals to be publicly humiliated and minors to become addicted to a tool that “feigns human compassion.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 1, 2026
He added that the "entire nation" was being "humiliated" by Iran.
From BBC ● May 2, 2026
They insisted on pushing me to Henry’s car in a wheelchair, though I was perfectly able to walk and humiliated at being rolled out like a parcel.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Its decision arrived just hours after the Supreme Court’s sixth reversal of the 5th Circuit so far this term, with several more likely to come—a humiliating record for the appeals court.
From Slate ● Jun. 12, 2026
Several French pro-Palestinian activists on Friday described what they said was a violent and humiliating ordeal after they were detained by Israeli forces on a Gaza-bound flotilla.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
Early signs suggested that “Iceman” would constitute a return to Drake’s tough-talking ways in the wake of his humiliating defeat, and indeed that’s largely what the album delivers over plush yet hard-hitting beats.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
Activating the blocking rules and humiliating Meta on the eve of that meeting reflects a leader who assumes his counterpart will arrive anyway—and pay for the privilege.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
Unwilling to suffer a humiliating defeat, cut down one by one as they tried to break through the cavalry, they mounted their horses and charged off the face of the mountain.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
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.
