humble

- 7 dictionary results

hum⋅ble

[huhm-buh

l, uhm-]

adjective, -bler, -blest, verb, -bled, -bling.

Use humble in a Sentence

–adjective

1.	not proud or arrogant; modest: to be humble although successful.

2.	having a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, subservience, etc.: In the presence of so many world-famous writers I felt very humble.

3.	low in rank, importance, status, quality, etc.; lowly: of humble origin; a humble home.

4.	courteously respectful: In my humble opinion you are wrong.

5.	low in height, level, etc.; small in size: a humble member of the galaxy.

–verb (used with object)

6.	to lower in condition, importance, or dignity; abase.

7.	to destroy the independence, power, or will of.

8.	to make meek: to humble one's heart.

Origin:
1200–50; ME (h)umble < OF < L humilis lowly, insignificant, on the ground. See humus, -ile

Related forms:

hum⋅ble⋅ness, noun

humbler, noun

hum⋅bling⋅ly, adverb

humbly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. unpretending, unpretentious. 2. submissive, meek. 3. unassuming, plain, common, poor. 4. polite. 6. mortify, shame, abash. 7. subdue, crush, break. Humble, degrade, humiliate suggest lowering or causing to seem lower. To humble is to bring down the pride of another or to reduce him or her to a state of abasement: to humble an arrogant enemy. To degrade is to demote in rank or standing, or to reduce to a low level in dignity: to degrade an officer; to degrade oneself by lying. To humiliate is to make others feel or appear inadequate or unworthy, esp. in some public setting: to humiliate a sensitive person.

Antonyms:
1, 2. proud. 3. noble, exalted. 4. rude, insolent. 6. elevate. 8. exalt.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source

Link To humble

hum·ble (hŭm'bəl)

adj. hum·bler, hum·blest

Marked by meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude, or spirit; not arrogant or prideful.
Showing deferential or submissive respect: a humble apology.
Low in rank, quality, or station; unpretentious or lowly: a humble cottage.

tr.v. hum·bled, hum·bling, hum·bles

To curtail or destroy the pride of; humiliate.
To cause to be meek or modest in spirit.
To give a lower condition or station to; abase. See Synonyms at degrade.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin humilis, low, lowly, from humus, ground; see dhghem- in Indo-European roots.]
hum'ble·ness n., hum'bler n., hum'bly adv.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Humble

Hum"ble\, a. [Compar. Humbler; superl. Humblest.] [F., fr. L. humilis on the ground, low, fr. humus the earth, ground. See Homage, and cf. Chameleon, Humiliate.]

1. Near the ground; not high or lofty; not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming; as, a humble cottage.

THy humble nest built on the ground. --Cowley.

2. Thinking lowly of one's self; claiming little for one's self; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; thinking one's self ill-deserving or unworthy, when judged by the demands of God; lowly; waek; modest.

God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. --Jas. iv. 6.

She should be humble who would please. --Prior.

Without a humble imitation of the divine Author of our . . . religion we can never hope to be a happy nation. --Washington.

Humble plant (Bot.), a species of sensitive plant, of the genus Mimosa (M. sensitiva).

To eat humble pie, to endure mortification; to submit or apologize abjectly; to yield passively to insult or humilitation; -- a phrase derived from a pie made of the entrails or humbles of a deer, which was formerly served to servants and retainers at a hunting feast. See Humbles. --Halliwell. --Thackeray.

Humble

Hum"ble\, a. Hornless. See Hummel. [Scot.]

Humble

Hum"ble\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Humbled; p. pr. & vb. n. Humbling.]

1. To bring low; to reduce the power, independence, or exaltation of; to lower; to abase; to humilate.

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

The genius which humbled six marshals of France. --Macaulay.

2. To make humble or lowly in mind; to abase the pride or arrogance of; to reduce the self-sufficiently of; to make meek and submissive; -- often used rexlexively.

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you. --1 Pet. v. 6.

Syn: To abase; lower; depress; humiliate; mortify; disgrace; degrade.

Language Translation for : humble

Spanish: humilde,

German: bescheiden,

Japanese: 謙虚な

More Translations »

humble (adj.)

c.1250, from O.Fr. humble, earlier humele, from L. humilis "lowly, humble," lit. "on the ground," from humus "earth." Senses of "not self-asserting" and "of low birth or rank" were both in M.E. The verb is c.1380 in the intrans. sense of "to render oneself humble;" 1484 in the trans. sense of "to lower (someone) in dignity."

"Don't be so humble; you're not that great." [Golda Meir]

To eat humble pie (1830) is from umble pie (1648), pie made from umbles "edible inner parts of an animal" (especially deer), considered a low-class food. The similar sense of similar-sounding words (the "h" of humble was not pronounced then) converged in the pun. Umbles, meanwhile, is M.E. numbles "offal" (with loss of n- through assimilation into preceding article), from O.Fr. nombles "loin, fillet," from L. lumulus, dim. of lumbus "loin."

humble

see eat crow (humble pie).

Search another word or see humble on Thesaurus | Reference

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Advertise with Us · Link to Us · NASCAR® · Contact Us