mortification

American  

[mawr-tuh-fi-key-shuhn] / ˌmɔr tə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. a feeling of humiliation or shame, as through some injury to one's pride or self-respect.

2. a cause or source of such humiliation or shame.

3. the practice of asceticism by penitential discipline to overcome desire for sin and to strengthen the will.

4. Pathology. the death of one part of the body while the rest is alive; gangrene; necrosis.

---

mortification British  

/ ˌmɔːtɪfɪˈkeɪʃən /

noun

1. a feeling of loss of prestige or self-respect; humiliation

2. something causing this

3. Christianity the practice of mortifying the senses

4. another word for gangrene

---

Usage

What does mortification mean? Mortification is a feeling of humiliation or extreme embarrassment.You know when you do something so unbearably embarrassing that you just want to shrivel up and die? That’s the feeling of mortification. Which is fitting because the word comes from a root meaning “death.”In other words, mortification is the state of being mortified—humiliated or extremely embarrassed. Things that are humiliating or extremely embarrassing can be described as mortifying.Both mortify and mortification also have meanings that relate to literal death. In medical terms, mortification refers to the death of one part of the body while the rest of the body is alive. This is more technically called gangrene or necrosis.Mortification is also used (less commonly) in a religious context, in which it refers to the ascetic practice of self-discipline with the goal of strengthening one’s will and overcoming the desire to sin. In Christianity, forms of mortification include things like fasting. In some extreme cases, especially in older times, it has included things like self-flagellation—whipping oneself.Example: I can’t even express the sense of mortification I felt when I forgot every single word of my speech and then tripped while trying to run away.

Related Words

See shame.

Other Word Forms

• premortification noun

Etymology

Origin of mortification

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English mortificacion, from Late Latin mortificātiōn- (stem of mortificātiō ), equivalent to morti- ( mortify ) + -ficatiōn- -fication

Example Sentences

Also because many of those who have been dealt the mortification were comparatively affluent and accomplished.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 15, 2026

Maybe it was the sense of hopelessness and mortification that made them throw caution, and inferiority, to the wind.

From BBC • Feb. 3, 2024

Rather, each of these minions is in thrall to the project of keeping the lie alive, complicit in a pathological system of mortification, expiation, and fear that has taken on a life of its own.

From Slate • Sep. 15, 2023

Was that choreographed for maximum mortification, or did you just wing it?

From New York Times • Sep. 5, 2022

To his great astonishment and mortification, Sticky saw his parents begin trying less and less to find him, instead devoting their time and energy toward the proper disposal of their newfound riches.

From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart