humiliate

H4U1M3I1L1I1A1T1E1
/hjuːˈmɪliˌeɪt/

verb

To cause to be ashamed; to injure the dignity and self-respect of.

“He would never intentionally humiliate anyone, even in jest.”

Similar
debasedemeandisgracemortifyshameabaseabashbring low
Opposite
dignifyhonoradvanceaggrandizeelevate
OriginLate Latin humiliātus ← Latin humilis →
UncommonScrabble 14
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Word of the Day · Dec 1, 2023

Meanings

verbhumiliate (third-person singular simple present humiliates, present participle humiliating, simple past and past participle humiliated)

present singular third person humiliates · participle present humiliating · participle past humiliated · past humiliated

  1. transitiveTo cause to be ashamed; to injure the dignity and self-respect of.

    He would never intentionally humiliate anyone, even in jest.

    2 more examples

    The bully tried to humiliate the other students during lunch.

    The harsh comments from the coach humiliated the player in front of the team.

    Synonyms: debase, demean, disgrace, mortify, shame, abase, abash, bring low

  2. transitiveTo make humble; to lower in condition or status.

    Synonyms: debase, demote, humble, abase, bring down to size, cut down to size, debase, defame · Antonyms: dignify, honor, advance, aggrandize, dignify, elevate, ennoble, exalt

  3. transitivegamesTo defeat overwhelmingly.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo cause to be ashamed; to injure the dignity and self-respect of.

Similar
debasedemeandisgracemortifyshameabaseabashbring lowconfuseconfounddebasedegradedemeandepressdisconcertdiscomfitdishonourembarrasshumble

verbTo make humble; to lower in condition or status.

Similar
debasedemotehumbleabasebring down to sizecut down to sizedebasedefamedegradedemeandemotedepressdiscreditdisgracedishonourdisparagedowngradeembasegive a bad namehumble
Opposite
dignifyhonoradvanceaggrandizedignifyelevateennobleexalthonornobilitatepreferpromoteraiseuplift

More synonyms by meaning

verbcause to feel shame; hurt the pride of

Similar
mortifychagrinhumbleabase
Broader
hurtwoundinjure
Also see
abaseabashchagrindefamedejectdemeandepressdiscomfitdisgracedishonourembarrassetherhumblemortifyschlongshamestultify

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinhumilis“lowly, humble”
  2. Late Latinhumiliātus
  3. Englishhumiliate

Borrowed from Late Latin humiliātus, perfect passive participle of humiliō (“to abase, humble”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from Latin humilis (“lowly, humble”), from humus (“ground; earth, soil”); see humble.

More words from Late Latin, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic أَخْزَى, اِسْتَذَلَّ
  • أَخْزَى (ʔaḵzā)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • اِسْتَذَلَّ (istaḏalla)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • أَذَلَّ (ʔaḏalla)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Bulgarian унижа́вам, унижа́
  • унижа́вам (unižávam)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • унижа́ (unižá)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Catalan humiliar
  • humiliarto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Chinese Mandarin 羞辱, 侮辱
  • 羞辱 (xiūrǔ)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • 侮辱 (wǔrǔ)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • 污辱 (wūrǔ)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • 欺侮 (qīwǔ)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • 辱罵 /辱骂 (rǔmà)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Czech ponižovat, ponížit
  • ponižovatto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • ponížitto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Danish ydmyge, fornedre
  • ydmygeto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • fornedreto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Dutch vernederen, verootmoedigen
  • vernederento injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • verootmoedigento injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Esperanto humiligi
  • humiligito injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Estonian alandama
  • alandamato injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Finnish nöyryyttää
  • nöyryyttääto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
French humilier
  • humilierto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
German demütigen, beschämen
  • demütigento injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • beschämento injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • erniedrigento injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Greek ταπεινώνω, ρεζιλεύω
  • ταπεινώνω (tapeinóno)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • ρεζιλεύω (rezilévo)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • ντροπιάζω (ntropiázo)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Hindi विनीत करना, नीचा दिखाना
  • विनीत करना (vinīt karnā)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • नीचा दिखाना (nīcā dikhānā)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Hungarian megaláz
  • megalázto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Icelandic niðurlægja, auðmýkja
  • niðurlægjato injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • auðmýkjato injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • lítillækkato injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Indonesian membuat malu
  • membuat maluto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Irish náirigh, uirísligh
  • náirighto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • uiríslighto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Italian umiliare, avvilire
  • umiliareto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • avvilireto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Japanese 辱める, 屈辱を与える
  • 辱める (hazukashimeru)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • 屈辱を与える (kutsujoku o ataeru)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • 凹ます (hekomasu)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Korean 굴욕을 주다, 굴욕감을 주다
  • 굴욕을 주다 (guryog-eul juda)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • 굴욕감을 주다 (guryokgam-eul juda)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • 모욕하다 (moyokhada)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Latin humiliō
  • humiliōto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Latvian pazemot
  • pazemotto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Lithuanian pažeminti, žeminti
  • pažemintito injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • žemintito injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Māori whakapāpaku
  • whakapāpakuto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Norwegian Bokmål ydmyke, fornedre
  • ydmyketo injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • fornedreto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Persian تحقیر کردن
  • تحقیر کردن (tahqir kardan)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Polish upokarzać, upokorzyć
  • upokarzaćto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • upokorzyćto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • poniżaćto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • poniżyćto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Portuguese humilhar
  • humilharto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Romanian a jigni, a umili
  • a jignito injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • a umilito injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Russian унижа́ть, уни́зить
  • унижа́ть (unižátʹ)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • уни́зить (unízitʹ)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • опуска́ть (opuskátʹ)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • опусти́ть (opustítʹ)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Slovak ponižovať, ponížiť
  • ponižovaťto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • ponížiťto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Spanish humillar, papear
  • humillarto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • papearto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Swedish förödmjuka, förnedra
  • förödmjukato injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • förnedrato injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Thai ฉีกหน้า, หมิ่น
  • ฉีกหน้า (chìik-nâa)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • หมิ่น (mìn)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Turkish aşağılamak, utandırmak
  • aşağılamakto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • utandırmakto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Ukrainian прини́жувати, прини́зити
  • прини́жувати (prynýžuvaty)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • прини́зити (prynýzyty)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Urdu ذَلِیل کَرْنا
  • ذَلِیل کَرْنا (zalīl karnā)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Vietnamese làm nhục, sỉ nhục
  • làm nhụcto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • sỉ nhụcto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
  • lăng nhụcto injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Yiddish פֿאַרשעמען
  • פֿאַרשעמען (farshemen)to injure a person's dignity and self-respect
Cite this entry
APA

humiliate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/humiliate

MLA

“humiliate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/humiliate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “humiliate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/humiliate.

Source: humiliate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.