What does humiliate mean?
Humiliate means to injure someone's dignity or self-respect through ridicule, insults, or degrading treatment. The act may be deliberate, as when a person is publicly mocked or put in an embarrassing position, or it may describe the emotional result of a humiliating experience, such as a humiliating defeat or failure. The word carries a stronger sense than embarrass because it implies a loss of status, dignity, or pride, often witnessed by others. In ordinary use, it can describe both mistreating someone and the impact such treatment has. Humiliation is the noun, while humiliated and humiliating are its adjective forms. The word is commonly used in formal reporting as well as in personal narratives, and is especially associated with public humiliation, although private shame and degradation can also be described this way.
verbTo degrade someone's dignity or self-respect by insulting, ridiculing, or treating them with contempt. It can also mean to reduce someone to a humiliating or degrading position.
- To cause someone to feel shame and loss of dignity through mockery, insult, or degrading treatment.
- To place someone in a position that is humiliating or socially degrading.
"The defeat was deeply humiliating for the team."
"The article was widely criticized for humiliating its former employee."
"She felt humiliated by the way the committee dismissed her concerns."
To humiliate someone is not merely to embarrass them; it is to strip away their dignity before the eyes of others.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does humiliate come from?
The word comes from Latin humiliare, meaning “to humble” or “to bring low,” derived from humilis, “humble” or “lowly.” The Latin adjective humilis is related to humus, “earth,” and the English cognates humble and humility preserve the same broad sense of being low or modest. The verb entered English through French and was used in the sense of lowering someone's status or dignity. Its modern use focuses especially on the deliberate infliction of shame and degradation.
Related word forms
How humiliate is actually used
The word is strongly negative and is usually used when a person or group is subjected to public degradation, ridicule, or a serious loss of status. It can be formal or informal, but it is more emphatic than embarrass.
Easily confused with humiliate
No other headword is provided for comparison.