mortify
[mawr-tuh-fahy]
verb (used with object), mor·ti·fied, mor·ti·fy·ing.
to humiliate or shame, as by injury to one's pride or self-respect.
to subjugate (the body, passions, etc.) by abstinence, ascetic discipline, or self-inflicted suffering.
Pathology. to affect with gangrene or necrosis.
verb (used without object), mor·ti·fied, mor·ti·fy·ing.
to practice mortification or disciplinary austerities.
Pathology. to undergo mortification; become gangrened or necrosed.
Origin of mortify
1350–1400; Middle English mortifien < Middle French mortifier < Late Latin mortificāre “to put to death,” equivalent to Latin morti- (stem of mors) “death” + -ficāre -fy
Synonyms for mortify
Synonym study
1. See ashamed.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Related Words for mortify
annoy, disgrace, subdue, displease, chagrin, deflate, confound, vex, humiliate, control, discomfit, deny, ridicule, affront, chasten, belittle, humble, harass, crush, shameExamples from the Web for mortify
Contemporary Examples of mortify
Historical Examples of mortify
The intention is, I tell you plainly, to mortify you into a sense of your duty.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)Samuel Richardson
But your kings do not allow so small a thing to vex or mortify them.
The Memoires of Casanova, CompleteJacques Casanova de Seingalt
Though I showed nothing of it, it served only to mortify me.
The Autobiography of Madame GuyonJeanne Marie Bouvier de La Motte Guyon
To mortify her the more, she was landed at Traitors' Stairs.
Fox's Book of MartyrsJohn Foxe
But she passed the matter over in silence, not caring to mortify him.
The Adventures of Maya the BeeWaldemar Bonsels
mortify
verb -fies, -fying or -fied
Word Origin for mortify
C14: via Old French from Church Latin mortificāre to put to death, from Latin mors death + facere to do
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
mortify
[môr′tə-fī′]
v.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.