- present participle of humiliate.
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.
Morocco is to co-host the 2030 World Cup and Moroccan Football chief Fouzi Lekjaa is one of the few to have publicly supported Infantino since the humiliating climbdown.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
In the hours after the humiliating public disclosure, Roh told friends she wondered whether she had been too selfish and inconsiderate of her husband’s emotions, according to local media reports.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
His converted penalty was then merely a consolation in a 3-1 loss to hosts Russia before he missed a sitter as Egypt suffered a humiliating loss to Saudi Arabia.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
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
It was humiliating to be offered a Purple Heart now, and he wasn’t going to let his platoon leader insult him like that.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
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.
