inglorious
Americanadjective
-
shameful; disgraceful.
inglorious retreat.
- Synonyms:
- dishonorable
- Antonyms:
- praiseworthy, admirable
-
not famous or honored.
adjective
-
without courage or glory; dishonourable, shameful, or disgraceful
-
unknown or obscure
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inglorious
From the Latin word inglōrius, dating back to 1565–75. See in- 3, glorious
Explanation
Something inglorious is shameful or disgraceful. An inglorious end to a politician's career might include evidence that he bought people's votes and lied about his educational background. You could call World War II a generally inglorious period in Germany's history, or talk about a southern US city with an inglorious record of bias against African Americans. And if your favorite basketball team loses every game, they have an inglorious season. Inglorious adds the "not" prefix in- to glorious, from its Latin root gloriosus, "full of glory" or "famous."
Vocabulary lists containing inglorious
Unit 1: Telling Details
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"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce
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Vocabulary from Readings 2, Unit 1
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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.
Gainsborough, Reynolds, Romney, Allan Ramsay and others caught Britain’s biggest losers in oils, allowing us to put rubicund faces to inglorious reputations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
A proud Bruin having met an inglorious ending, those fixes will now be in the hands of someone else.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2025
It is not Smith’s fault that his investigation has reached such a premature and inglorious end.
From Slate ● Nov. 25, 2024
The ground-breaking house share at 12 Ruthin Gardens, in Cardiff, paved the way for modern-day supported living, ending a long and inglorious history of people with disabilities being consigned to institutions.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2023
The phrase subtly alludes to another meditation on unrealized genius, “Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,” from Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.”
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
