humble

comparative humbler · comparative more humble · superlative humblest · superlative most humble

1. Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming.

   He lives in a humble one-bedroom cottage.

   4 more examples

   17th century, Abraham Cowley, The Shortness of Life and Uncertainty of Riches The wise example of the heavenly lark. Thy fellow poet, Cowley, mark, Above the clouds let thy proud music sound, Thy humble nest build on the ground.

   Roominess and unroominess in a human dwelling, even of the humblest kind, are important matters in their bearing upon man's character.

   1894, Irish Builder and Engineer, volume 36, page 147

   Undoubtedly it can be said that the humble 0-6-0 has been the backbone for general service, or general utility on British railways right from their earliest days, and is likely to remain so.

   1945 November and December, H. C. Casserley, “Random Reflections on British Locomotive Types—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 320

   Lucky that my lips not only mumble / They spill kisses like a fountain / Lucky that my breasts are small and humble / So you don't confuse 'em with mountains

   2001 August 30, Shakira, “Whenever, Wherever”, in Laundry Service

   Synonyms: simple, modest, unpretentious

2. Having a low position or a low opinion of oneself; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; modest.

   She ſhould be humble, who would pleaſe; And ſhe muſt ſuffer, who can love.

   a. 1722 (date written), Matthew Prior, “Cloe Jealous”, in The Poetical Works of Matthew Prior […], volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan, […], published 1779, →OCLC, stanza V, page 109

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   Rosol's 65 winners to Nadal's 41 was one of the crucial statistics in the 3hr 18min match that ended in a 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 triumph labelled a "miracle" by Rosol, who was humble enough to offer commiserations to Nadal.

   2012 June 28, Jamie Jackson, “Wimbledon 2012: Lukas Rosol shocked by miracle win over Rafael Nadal”, in The Guardian, London

   Synonyms: demure, modest, unassuming

plural humbles

1. People with a low position or a low opinion of themselves; those who are not proud, arrogant, or assuming.

   c. 590 AD: Liber Regulae Pastoralis by Pope Gregory I "The humble are to be admonished not to be more submissive than is right".

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   But he giueth more grace, wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proude, but giueth grace vnto the humble.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, James 4:6

2. slangBaltimoreAn arrest based on weak evidence intended to demean or punish the subject.

   Years ago, guys on Baltimore's streets would have, by definition, called an arrest for loitering a "humble."

   2005 April 23, Gregory Kane, “'Jive humble' arrests help fill Central Booking's cell”, in Baltimore Sun

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   You're on a corner in my district, it ain't gonna be about no humble, it ain't gonna be about no loitering charge, nothing like that. There gonna be some biblical shit happening to you on the way to that motherfucking jail wagon.

   2004 October 17, Ed Burns, “Straight and True”, in The Wire, season 3, episode 5 (television production), spoken by Howard "Bunny" Colvin (Robert Wisdom), via HBO

   A humble is a cheap, inconsequential arrest that nonetheless gives the guy a night or two in jail before he sees a court commissioner. You can arrest people on “failure to obey,” it’s a humble. Loitering is a humble. These things were used by police officers going back to the ‘60s in Baltimore. It’s the ultimate recourse for a cop who doesn't like somebody who's looking at him the wrong way.

   2015 April 29, “David Simon on Baltimore’s Anguish”, in The Marshall Project

present singular third person humbles · participle present humbling · participle past humbled · past humbled

1. ambitransitiveTo defeat or reduce the power, independence, or pride of.

   Here, take this purse, thou whom the heaven's plagues have humbled to all strokes.

   c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]

   2 more examples

   Humble yourselues therefore vnder the mighty hand of God, that hee may exalt you in due time,

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Peter 5:6

   But, after the death of the master, the servant proved himself capable of supplying with eminent ability the master's place, and was renowned throughout Europe as one of the great Triumvirate which humbled the pride of Lewis the Fourteenth.

   1851, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XI, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume III, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, pages 68–69

   Synonyms: abase, degrade, depress, disgrace, humiliate, lower, mortify, abase

2. oftenreflexivetransitiveTo make humble or lowly; to make less proud or arrogant; to make meek and submissive.

   And you say you've been humbled in love / Cut down in your love / Forced to kneel in the mud next to me

   1979 September 27, Leonard Cohen, “Humbled in Love”, in Recent Songs

   1 more example

   The final, quiet moments of the book return to Sten; his experience of his sick son humbles him, just as his aging body humbles him, and Boyle seems to suggest this makes him a better man.

   2015 April 8, Dana Spiotta, “T. C. Boyle’s ‘The Harder They Come’”, in The New York Times

   Synonyms: break, bring to heel, meeken, subdue, subjugate, suppress, tame

present singular third person humbles · participle present humbling · participle past humbled · past humbled

1. intransitiveobsoleteTo hum.

   humbling and bumbling

plural humbles

1. Northern EnglandScotlandalsoalternativeattributiveAlternative form of hummel.

   humble cattle

present singular third person humbles · participle present humbling · participle past humbled · past humbled

1. alternativetransitiveAlternative form of hummel.

plural Humbles

1. countableuncountableA surname.
2. A place name:
   1. countableuncountableA small town in Langeland municipality, island of Langeland, southern Denmark.
   2. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Russell County, Kentucky, United States.
   3. countableuncountableA city in Harris County, Texas, United States, the former home of Humble Oil.