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humble - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'humble' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Humble [ a.]
- Hornless. See Hummel.
2 . Humble [ superl.]
- Near the ground; not high or lofty; not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming; as, a humble cottage.
- 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.
3 . Humble [ v. t.]
- To bring low; to reduce the power, independence, or exaltation of; to lower; to abase; to humilate.
- 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.

Meaning of 'humble' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . humble [ v]
Meaning (1):
- cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of
Example in sentence:
  • He humiliated his colleague by criticising him in front of the boss
Meaning (2):
- cause to be unpretentious
Example in sentence:
  • This experience will humble him
3 . humble [ a]
Meaning (3):
- marked by meekness or modesty; not arrogant or prideful
Example in sentence:
  • a humble apology;
  • essentially humble...and self-effacing, he achieved the highest formal honors and distinctions
4 . humble [ s]
Meaning (4):
- low or inferior in station or quality
Example in sentence:
  • a humble cottage;
  • a lowly parish priest;
  • a modest man of the people;
  • small beginnings
Meaning (5):
- of low birth or station (`base' is archaic in this sense)
Example in sentence:
  • baseborn wretches with dirty faces;
  • of humble (or lowly) birth

Nearby Words:

hum human humanate humane humanics humanify humanism humanist humanistic humanitarian

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