indignity

[in-dig-ni-tee]

noun

plural

indignities 

1. an injury to a person's dignity; slighting or contemptuous treatment; humiliating affront, insult, or injury.

   Synonyms: outrage

2. Obsolete.,  disgrace or disgraceful action.

indignity

/ ɪnˈdɪɡnɪtɪ /

noun

1. injury to one's self-esteem or dignity; humiliation

2. obsolete,  disgrace or disgraceful character or conduct

Word History and Origins

Origin of indignity¹

First recorded in 1575–85; from Latin indignitās “unworthiness,” equivalent to indign(us) “undeserving, unworthy”( indign ) + -itās -ity

Synonym Study

See insult.

Example Sentences

Like many other Colored people of that era, he saw education as the pathway his children could follow to escape indignities and dangers, large and small.

Read more on Literature

After everything endured by victims of the Eaton and Palisades fires, they didn’t need yet another indignity, another gut punch, another reason to throw their heads back and scream.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The steady-paced, often mordantly funny “Pick a Color” explores the immigrant experience, the long tail of trauma, the indignities suffered by low-wage workers and their companion emotions: loneliness, loss and grief.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Another man, who had soiled himself, was left in his own excrement for 20 hours, while others suffered the indignity of having to use bedpans in corridors.

Read more on BBC

The special access shut down is just one of many indignities piling up as travelers face week five of the U.S. government shutdown.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• injustice 
• insult 
• opprobrium