ignominious
Americanadjective
-
marked by or attended with ignominy; discreditable; humiliating.
an ignominious retreat.
- Synonyms:
- shameful, dishonorable, disgraceful, degrading
-
bearing or deserving ignominy; contemptible.
- Synonyms:
- ignoble, despicable
Other Word Forms
- ignominiously adverb
- ignominiousness noun
- nonignominious adjective
- nonignominiously adverb
- nonignominiousness noun
- unignominious adjective
- unignominiously adverb
- unignominiousness noun
Etymology
Origin of ignominious
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English word from Latin word ignōminiōsus. See ignominy, -ous
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.
Tesla stock is trying to stop an ignominious streak on Friday.
From Barron's • Mar. 29, 2026
Judge, at the plate as the tying run in the bottom of the ninth, struck out to seal the ignominious defeat.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026
Every year, Amicus co-hosts Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern invite listeners to nominate the Supreme Court’s most egregious behavior, then choose their own “worst of the worst” to memorialize the most ignominious moments.
From Slate • Jan. 3, 2026
Their ignominious falls from grace are clear in the documentaries they feature in, from the glint of their handcuffs to the colour of their prison uniforms.
From BBC • Nov. 8, 2025
The punishment seemed to me in a high degree ignominious, especially for so great a girl—she looked thirteen or upwards.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
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.
