humiliate means to cause to be ashamed; to injure the dignity and self-respect of. It carries an Arena rating of 1676, earned across 11 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, humiliate ranks #364 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #1,082 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #1,128 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #3,377 of 17,131 for Scariest Words.
humiliate is pronounced /hjuːˈmɪliˌeɪt/.
Why “humiliate” is a great word
To cause someone to feel ashamed and lose dignity or self-respect, especially in a public or degrading manner. From Late Latin humiliātus, past participle of humiliō ('to humble, abase'), from Latin humilis ('lowly, humble'), itself from humus ('ground, soil'); first recorded in English use 1525–35. Unlike embarrass—which suggests a fleeting, blush-inducing social discomfort—or humble—which can be a neutral or even virtuous correction of pride—to humiliate is to enact a deliberate, crushing diminishment. It is the forced apology shouted before a jeering crowd, the supervisor’s critique designed for an audience of peers, the calculated betrayal that leaves its target utterly exposed; a ritual of social burial that ensures one remembers the ground from which dignity tries to rise.
Etymology
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.
verb
- To cause to be ashamed; to injure the dignity and self-respect of.e.g.“The bully tried to humiliate the other students during lunch.”
- To make humble; to lower in condition or status.
- To defeat overwhelmingly.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- humiliating 79% match — Liable to humiliate, degrade, shame or embarrass someone. vs humiliate →
- humiliated 79% match — deprived of dignity or self-respect vs humiliate →
- humiliatable 71% match — Capable of being humiliated. vs humiliate →
- abase 70% match — To lower, as in condition in life, office, rank, etc., so as to cause pain or hurt feelings; to degrade, to depress, to humble, to humiliate. vs humiliate →
- humbling 70% match — An event which causes humiliation; a setdown. vs humiliate →
- demean 69% match — To debase; to lower; to degrade. vs humiliate →
- undignify 69% match — To treat without dignity. vs humiliate →
- humbled 68% match — humiliated; weakened; made to be of a lower status vs humiliate →