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humble

UK/ˈhʊmbəl/ US/ˈhʌmbəl/ common slang
adjective (4) verb (2)

adjective

1.

low or inferior in station or quality

  • “a humble cottage”
  • “a lowly parish priest”
  • “a modest man of the people”
  • “small beginnings”
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2.

marked by meekness or modesty; not arrogant or prideful

  • “a humble apology”
  • “essentially humble...and self-effacing, he achieved the highest formal honors and distinctions” B.K.Malinowski
Antonyms
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3.

used of unskilled work (especially domestic work)

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4.

of low birth or station (`base'' is archaic in this sense)

  • “baseborn wretches with dirty faces”
  • “of humble (or lowly) birth”
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verb

1.

cause to be unpretentious

  • “This experience will humble him”
2.

cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of

  • “He humiliated his colleague by criticising him in front of the boss”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English humble, from Old French humble, umble, humle, from Latin humilis (“low, slight, hence mean, humble”) (compare Greek χαμηλός (khamēlós, “on the ground, low, trifling”)), from humus (“the earth, ground”), humi (“on the ground”). See homage, and compare chameleon, humiliate. Displaced native Old English ēaþmōd.

Phrases

  • eat humble pie
  • humble pie
  • humble plant
  • in my humble opinion

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Word family

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See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.