humble

—humbleness, n. —humbler, n. —humblingly, adv. —humbly, adv.

/hum"beuhl, um"-/, adj., humbler, humblest, v., humbled, humbling.

adj.

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.

v.t.

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.

[1200-50; ME (h)umble < OF < L humilis lowly, insignificant, on the ground. See HUMUS, -ILE]

Syn. 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.

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

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