mortify
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.
to practice mortification or disciplinary austerities.
Pathology. to undergo mortification; become gangrened or necrosed.
Origin of mortify
1synonym study For mortify
Other words for mortify
Other words from mortify
- mor·ti·fi·er, noun
- mor·ti·fy·ing·ly, adverb
- pre·mor·ti·fy, verb (used with object), pre·mor·ti·fied, pre·mor·ti·fy·ing.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use mortify in a sentence
For 150 years its mortifying confusions have been swept under the carpet with the court adjudication “stubborn child.”
Autism and Child Pornography: A Toxic Combination | Eustacia Cutler | August 5, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThis of course exposed me to the mortifying risk of having my requests remain unanswered or worse, turned down.
I'll share one that may not be the biggest lie I've ever told, but is certainly the most mortifying.
Friday Forum: What's the Biggest Lie You've Ever Told? | Megan McArdle | January 18, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTLike us, their output ranges from the mundane to the mortifying.
Celebrity Rants! Courtney Love, Ashley Judd & More Stars Uncensored | Lizzie Skurnick | April 15, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTIt was such a damper as to be most mortifying to an enthusiastic girl, and she drew into herself in a moment.
The Daisy Chain | Charlotte Yonge
The English, fearing a ruse, continued to stand to their arms till their scouts confirmed the mortifying intelligence.
King Robert the Bruce | A. F. MurisonThere have been mortifying failures, but there have been positive successes in the eleven years.
The Leaven in a Great City | Lillian William BettsBesides, the mortifying experience at the Paris Exposition has dampened even my perennially youthful enthusiasm.
In Search of the Unknown | Robert W. ChambersCertainly it was a mortifying matter for all concerned, and not least for Cluny; the more credit that he took it as he did.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 10 (of 25) | Robert Louis Stevenson
British Dictionary definitions for mortify
/ (ˈmɔːtɪˌfaɪ) /
(tr) to humiliate or cause to feel shame
(tr) Christianity to subdue and bring under control by self-denial, disciplinary exercises, etc
(intr) to undergo tissue death or become gangrenous
Origin of mortify
1Derived forms of mortify
- mortifier, noun
- mortifying, adjective
- mortifyingly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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