humiliated: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
B2Formal, neutral, and informal (common in emotional/psychological contexts)
Quick answer
What does “humiliated” mean?
Made to feel ashamed, foolish, and having lost respect and dignity, often publicly.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
Made to feel ashamed, foolish, and having lost respect and dignity, often publicly.
The feeling or state of being demeaned, degraded, or having one's pride severely wounded, often resulting in a sense of powerlessness or deep embarrassment.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant differences in meaning or usage. Spelling is consistent.
Connotations
Identical in both varieties: a strongly negative emotional state.
Frequency
Comparably common in both UK and US English.
Grammar
How to Use “humiliated” in a Sentence
be humiliated by someone/somethingfeel humiliated that + clausehumiliated at/in front of someoneVocabulary
Collocations
Examples
Examples of “humiliated” in a Sentence
verb
British English
- He felt he had been utterly humiliated in front of his whole team.
American English
- The coach's harsh comments humiliated the young player.
adverb
British English
- He apologised humiliatedly, his eyes fixed on the floor.
American English
- She humiliatedly admitted she had forgotten her own speech.
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Used in contexts of professional failure or public criticism, e.g., 'The CEO was humiliated by the board's vote of no confidence.'
Academic
Used in psychology, sociology, and literature to describe social dynamics or character states.
Everyday
Common in describing personal feelings after social blunders, failures, or put-downs.
Technical
Not a technical term, but used in clinical psychology to describe a potent emotional experience.
Vocabulary
Synonyms of “humiliated”
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms of “humiliated”
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “humiliated”
- Using it as a synonym for 'shy'.
- Incorrect spelling: 'humilliated'.
- Using the active form incorrectly, e.g., 'I humiliated' when you mean 'I was humiliated'.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Embarrassment is a temporary, often mild social discomfort. Humiliation is a deeper, more painful feeling of being degraded or losing respect, often involving a power imbalance.
Yes. The verb 'to humiliate' is transitive (e.g., 'He humiliated his opponent'). The adjective/participle 'humiliated' describes the state of the person who receives the action.
It is used across registers, from formal writing to everyday speech, whenever the intense emotion needs to be conveyed.
They share the Latin root 'humilis' (low). 'Humble' can be a positive adjective (modest) or a verb meaning to make humble. 'Humiliate' always means to make someone feel shamefully low.
Made to feel ashamed, foolish, and having lost respect and dignity, often publicly.
Humiliated: in British English it is pronounced /hjuːˈmɪl.i.eɪ.tɪd/, and in American English it is pronounced /hjuːˈmɪl.i.eɪ.t̬ɪd/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “to be/look like a drowned rat (implies humiliation)”
- “to have one's nose put out of joint (mild humiliation)”
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think of a HUMan feeling so small they are made to feel like an ant – HUMan-ILI-Ated (like 'made into a lowly insect').
Conceptual Metaphor
SHAME/DEGRADATION IS BEING MADE PHYSICALLY SMALL OR LOW (e.g., 'I felt two inches tall').
Practice
Quiz
Which of the following best describes the core feeling of being 'humiliated'?