humiliating
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of humiliating
First recorded in 1750–60; humiliat(e) + -ing 2
Explanation
When something humiliating happens to you, it makes you feel embarrassed and ashamed. Your humiliating haircut might force you to wear a stocking cap to work. Something that humbles you and makes you feel foolish is humiliating: it's humiliating to sing your song for the school talent show in the wrong key, and it's even more humiliating when the audience laughs. Admitting defeat in a competition or battle is often described as humiliating, as are most kinds of public embarrassment. The noun humiliation came first, from the same root as humble, the Latin humilis, "lowly, humble," and literally, "on the ground."
Vocabulary lists containing humiliating
Fish in a Tree
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The Wednesday Wars
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Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
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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.
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
She said that as a dyscalculic student that was a "really humiliating and mortifying experience".
From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026
But I ultimately decided I couldn’t let someone else go through my stuff—my lack of organization was humiliating.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026
I could see Stan receiving an anonymous missive detailing my humiliating defeats, ending with the statement: don’t waste your time on him.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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.
