humiliate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Related Words
Other Word Forms
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.
I imagine the mantra ingrained in Tiger’s psyche on Sunday afternoon relative to his competitors is “Intimidate, Humiliate, Destroy.”
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 28, 2018
Thankfully, there is a way to embrace the emotion of March Madness without humiliating our nation’s youngsters: Humiliate college band members instead.
From Slate • Mar. 22, 2018
Humiliate, hū-mil′i-āt, v.t. to make humble: to depress: to lower in condition.—adjs.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
Those headlines, Humiliate the Hun, Hang the Kaiser, and Make Germany Pay, had become no more interesting than a copy of last week’s Morning Mischief in a horse-pond.
From Waiting for Daylight by Tomlinson, H. M. (Henry Major)
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.
