noun
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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:
The decision to also allow a visit from Ye Win Oo was "adding to its ignominy", the statement added.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
But the Reds/Generals would go on to lose their next 17,000 games, an unbroken streak of ignominy that continues to this day.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 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
DeChambeau, one of the fancied picks before the tournament, suffered the ignominy of missing the cut when a disastrous finish pushed him to six over.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 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
I’m filling in for Ian today, so let’s take a break from the usual ignominies we cover on the Slatest to talk about something completely different.
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026
Who never spoke about their ignominies because they were afraid we wouldn’t be there for them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2026
In her starkly tender photographs Ireland transforms Williams’s stalwart pews into stand-ins for long-departed parishioners while the peeling facade’s sunburst window observes the ignominies of time.
From New York Times ● Jul. 14, 2022
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.
