indignity

American  

[in-dig-ni-tee] / ɪnˈdɪg nɪ ti /

noun

indignities plural

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.

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indignity British  

/ ɪnˈdɪɡnɪtɪ /

noun

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

2. obsolete disgrace or disgraceful character or conduct

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Synonym Usage

See insult.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• indignities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of indignity

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

Explanation

An indignity is something embarrassing. An indignity is usually something that happens to us rather than something we do ourselves. As you might guess from that negative prefix in-, an indignity is a word that takes dignity (or self-esteem) away. If you find a fly in your soup, that's an indignity — not to mention protein. If you're making a speech and you realize your fly is open, that's a major indignity. Many people find waiting in line a long time to be an indignity. When you say "This is an indignity!" you're really saying, "I'm better than this, and I shouldn't have to deal with it." Needless to say, life is full of indignities.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

indignity indignities

It was even more of an indignity because Haley lived in and around Knoxville, Tennessee, for long periods of his life.

From Salon ● May 31, 2026

The Angels’ ultimate indignity is its own hometown newspaper doesn’t regard it highly enough to staff its games with a full-time writer.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2026

Savers may be spared the indignity of seeing the returns on their cash dwindle to near nothing - although institutions sometimes don't need an excuse to reduce savings rates.

From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2026

You can call that depressing, or an indignity, or a simple fact.

From Salon ● Jan. 23, 2026

The session was over, time passed as usual, the web of power had fallen apart into indignity and weariness.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

So going back nearly 60 years, the late Mr. Flint has been left to quietly suffer the indignities of desecration and abandonment, but for temporary intervention.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2026

Many of us were the Success Daughters who had grown up hearing that we could be anything we wanted, only to encounter barriers and indignities we hadn’t been told existed.

From Slate ● Mar. 31, 2026

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 ● Nov. 29, 2025

Park’s graphic elegance may be at odds with the awkward, idle indignities depicted onscreen, but the discrepancy between the two generates an edge-of-your-seat tension.

From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2025

Despite the brutality, the students were committed to nonviolence and for the most part bore the insults and indignities without striking back.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Related Words

• injustice
• insult
• opprobrium