humiliating

[hyoo-mil-ee-ey-ting, yoo-]

adjective

1. lowering the pride, self-respect, or dignity of a person; mortifying.

   Such a humiliating defeat was good for his overblown ego.

Other Word Forms

• humiliatingly adverb
• self-humiliating adjective
• unhumiliating adjective
• unhumiliatingly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of humiliating¹

First recorded in 1750–60; humiliat(e) + -ing ²

Example Sentences

Publicly, he put all the pressure on Hamas, a move that eventually cornered its leaders into a humiliating compromise.

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In short, it’s what people do way too often in the face of fascism, and if we know one thing about it for sure — well, actually, we know two: It’s humiliating and it doesn’t work.

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China’s actions show that the U.S. is vulnerable to economic pressure, and China has forced the administration to choose between further escalation or a humiliating climbdown.

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The most notable addition to the story is a sequence depicting the Phantom’s humiliating past as part of a freak show—a clever innovation that slightly humanizes this opaque character.

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We all have a constitutional right to free speech, but society also has moral codes against humiliating and degrading others.

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Related Words

• demeaning 
• embarrassing www.thesaurus.com
• humbling