noun
-
disgrace or public shame; dishonour
-
a cause of disgrace; a shameful act
Synonym Usage
See disgrace.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of ignominy
1530–40; < Latin ignōminia, equivalent to ig- (for in- in- 3, apparently by association with ignōbilis ignoble, ignōtus unknown, etc.; cf. cognomen) + nōmin- (stem of nōmen ) name + -ia -y 3
Explanation
If you walk into class in your underwear, you'll know what the word ignominy means. Ignominy is a noun meaning great public shame, disgrace, or embarrassment, or a situation or event that causes this. The shame can be major or minor: someone can suffer the ignominy of defeat or the ignominies of old age. When pronouncing this word, the main accent is on the first syllable, and the secondary accent is on the third syllable. Ignominy is from Latin the ignominia, formed from the prefix in-, "no, not," plus nomen, "name." The implication is that if someone has suffered ignominy, they have lost their good name or reputation.
Vocabulary lists containing ignominy
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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.
See Examples For:
It is in the hands of De Zerbi and his players to avoid such ignominy - but their form in a wretched campaign points to a day of discomfort when they face Everton.
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
The ignominy was something he could have carried with him, but the 23-year-old has been forced back into action after Guglielmo Vicario had hernia surgery last month.
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2026
Then closer Devin Williams blew the save, and the Mets fell in the 10th inning, keeping their streak of ignominy alive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
And so there has been a pileup of ignominy referred to a busier-than-ever Ethics Committee.
From Slate ● Apr. 16, 2026
Growing up in a Victorian upper-class America in which reputation was social currency, he must have felt the sting of the family’s ignominy.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Who never spoke about their ignominies because they were afraid we wouldn’t be there for them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2026
“Rupert Wins Again,” declared the Politico press critic Jack Shafer, who noted Mr. Murdoch’s long history of paying tens of millions of dollars to settle claims of phone hacking, workplace harassment and other ignominies.
From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2023
In addition to these ignominies, the news shows faced declining ratings.
From Slate ● Jan. 7, 2019
After Vrabel reported those ignominies, the live-stream discussion switched to a debate over what constitutes sexism.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 27, 2017
And Terryl felt the other ignominies in her life, such as sometimes showing up at school without a lunch.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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.
