Meanings
plural humblenesses · alternative obsolete humblenesse
- uncountableusuallyModesty, humility; the property of being humble.
1 more example
That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired. And if the arts of humbleness failed him, he overcame you by sheer impudence.
1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter II, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe state of being humble and unimportant
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishhumblenesse
- Englishhumbleness
From Middle English humblenesse; equivalent to humble + -ness.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Czech pokora, skromnost
- pokorathe property of being humble
- skromnostthe property of being humble
Māori māhakitanga
- māhakitangathe property of being humble
Romanian umilință
- umilințăthe property of being humble
Tagalog kababaang-loob
- kababaang-loobthe property of being humble
Cite this entry
humbleness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/humbleness
“humbleness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/humbleness. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “humbleness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/humbleness.
Source: humbleness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.