indignity

American  

[in-dig-ni-tee] / ɪnˈdɪg nɪ ti /

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 British  

/ ɪnˈdɪɡnɪtɪ /

noun

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

2. obsolete  disgrace or disgraceful character or conduct

---

Related Words

See insult.

Etymology

Origin of indignity

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

Example Sentences

This is only the second-most-regrettable indignity visited upon Buddy Holly in his hometown of Lubbock, Texas, but it’s still pretty infuriating.

From The Wall Street Journal

Cubicle dwellers at a Texas software company endure everyday corporate indignities, including paper jams and smug bosses asking if they got the memo about cover sheets for the TPS reports.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.

From 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.

From 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.

From BBC

Related Words

• injustice
• insult
• opprobrium