humiliation
gb/hjumˌɪliˈeɪʃən/ us/hjumˌɪliˈeɪʃən/
B2
Anglais
~ 6800
Sens
0 sens
Nom
B2
state
1
painful feeling of shame
A very strong bad feeling when you lose respect and feel small, especially in front of other people.
Schéma d’usage :
to feel [humiliation] at/over [something]
Erreur fréquente :
Learners often confuse "humiliation" with "humility". "Humiliation" is a very negative feeling of shame and lost respect, usually caused by others. "Humility" is a positive quality of being modest and not thinking you are better than other people. Also, learners sometimes say *"I am a humiliation"*; the natural phrase is *"I feel humiliation"* or *"It was a humiliation for me"*.
Synonymes
embarrassment (Generally weaker and milder; less intense and painful than humiliation.)
|
shame (Very close in meaning, but can be more about moral guilt, while humiliation stresses lost dignity in others’ eyes.)
|
mortification (Formal; suggests very strong, almost unbearable humiliation.)
Antonymes
pride (A feeling of self-respect and satisfaction, the emotional opposite of humiliation.)
|
dignity (A calm sense of self-respect that is lost or damaged when someone feels humiliation.)
Collocations
deep humiliation
|feel humiliation
|sense of humiliation
|painful humiliation
|humiliation and shame
|personal humiliation
Thèmes
emotions
|relationships
|society
|core_vocabulary
Exemples
- He still remembers the humiliation he felt when his boss shouted at him in front of the whole office.
- Losing the argument in front of her students was a source of deep humiliation for the professor.
- She tried to hide her tears, but the humiliation was written all over her face.
- Admitting his mistake publicly was a moment of real humiliation for him.
- The laughter of his classmates turned a small error into lasting humiliation.
Exemples pédagogiques
- He felt great humiliation when everyone laughed at him.
- The child’s humiliation was clear when his friends made fun of his clothes.
- She remembers the humiliation of falling on stage.
- After the meeting, he went home in silence and humiliation.
- Her letter spoke honestly about the humiliation she felt at school.
Nom
B2
event
2
act of making someone lose dignity
Something that happens that makes a person lose respect and feel very ashamed, often in front of other people.
Schéma d’usage :
the humiliation of [verb+ing]
Erreur fréquente :
Learners sometimes use a verb form like *"He humiliationed me"* instead of the correct verb "humiliated". The noun is "humiliation" (e.g., "It was a humiliation"), and the verb is "humiliate" (e.g., "He humiliated me"). Another mistake is saying *"the humiliation to lose"*; the natural pattern is "the humiliation of losing" + noun/verb-ing.
Synonymes
degradation (More formal; stresses being treated as if you are worth much less than others.)
|
shaming (Focuses on actively making someone feel ashamed, often publicly.)
|
embarrassment (Can refer to the situation that causes shame, but is usually less serious than humiliation.)
Antonymes
honor (Being treated with great respect, the opposite of being put through humiliation.)
|
respect (Positive treatment that protects a person’s dignity instead of attacking it.)
Collocations
public humiliation
|a humiliation for [someone]
|suffer humiliation
|spare [someone] the humiliation
|face humiliation
|risk humiliation
Thèmes
emotions
|relationships
|power
|society
|core_vocabulary
Exemples
- The public humiliation of being fired in front of his colleagues damaged his confidence for years.
- She could not forgive him for the humiliation he put her through at the party.
- To avoid further humiliation, he decided to resign before the report was published.
- The video showed the cruel humiliation of new workers during their first week.
- He begged his parents not to post the story online, calling it a needless humiliation.
Exemples pédagogiques
- The humiliation of losing his job in public was too much for him.
- She remembers the humiliation of being called stupid by the teacher.
- It was a big humiliation for the team when the fans booed them.
- He left early to escape the humiliation of another bad speech.
- They wanted to spare their son the humiliation of repeating a year at school.
unknown
C1
event
3
crushing defeat or failure
A very bad loss or failure that makes a person, team, or group look weak or stupid.
Schéma d’usage :
a [number]-[number] humiliation for [team/person]
Erreur fréquente :
Learners sometimes overuse this sense for any normal loss, saying things like *"It was a humiliation"* for a close or ordinary defeat. In news and natural speech, "humiliation" here is used for very heavy or especially shameful losses, not just any loss.
Synonymes
rout (Often used in sports or war; suggests a very easy or one-sided victory over the other side.)
|
crushing defeat (Emphasizes how complete and painful the loss is, similar emotional effect to humiliation.)
Antonymes
triumph (A very great success or victory, the opposite of a humiliating defeat.)
|
landslide victory (A very large, one-sided win, the opposite scenario of a humiliating loss in politics or sport.)
Collocations
a 5–0 humiliation
|electoral humiliation
|suffer a humiliation
|total humiliation
|humiliation at the polls
|a political humiliation
Thèmes
sports
|politics
|conflict
|core_vocabulary
Exemples
- The 6–1 humiliation in the final will be remembered as the worst defeat in the club’s history.
- The election result was a humiliation for the ruling party, which lost almost half its seats.
- Their early exit from the tournament was a national humiliation back home.
- After the humiliation of last year’s defeat, the team came back more focused and disciplined.
- The company’s failed product launch turned into a public humiliation for its chief executive.
Exemples pédagogiques
- The 5–0 loss was a humiliation for the team.
- The election was a humiliation for the leader.
- Their bad performance in the game was a big humiliation.
- The company’s mistake in the ad was a public humiliation.
- Last year’s humiliation made them train harder.
Grammaire
Forme canonique
humiliation
API
GB/hjumˌɪliˈeɪʃən/
US/hjumˌɪliˈeɪʃən/
Syllabes et accentuation
hu - mi - li - ation (4 syllabes)
Stress on 4th syllable (ation)
Formes du mot
Noun
- Base: humiliation
- Plural: humiliation, humiliations
Famille de mots
Forms
humiliations
noun
Core family
Advanced or less common
humiliatingly
adverb
Expressions
a national humiliation
1/ə nˈæʃnəl hjumˌɪliˈeɪʃən/
fixed phrase
humiliation for a whole country
A very shameful event that makes a whole country look weak or bad.
Exemples
- Commentators called the defeat a national humiliation.
- The scandal was viewed as a national humiliation that damaged the country’s image abroad.
die of humiliation
1/dˈaɪ əv hjumˌɪliˈeɪʃən/
idiom
informal
feel extremely humiliated
To feel so humiliated that it seems almost impossible to bear (not actually die).
Exemples
- I thought I would die of humiliation when my phone rang loudly during the wedding vows.
- She said she would die of humiliation if her parents saw the video.
public humiliation
1/pˈʌblɪk hjumˌɪliˈeɪʃən/
fixed phrase
humiliation in front of others
Humiliation that happens where many people can see it or hear about it.
Exemples
- He said the public humiliation of being arrested on live television was worse than the jail sentence.
- Social media can turn a small mistake into public humiliation within minutes.
risk humiliation
1/ɹˈɪsk hjumˌɪliˈeɪʃən/
fixed phrase
take chance of humiliation
To do something even though you know it might end in humiliation.
Exemples
- She was willing to risk humiliation by singing in front of the whole school.
- Entrepreneurs often risk humiliation when their ideas fail in public.
spare someone the humiliation
1/spˈɛɹ sˈʌmwˌʌn ðə hjumˌɪliˈeɪʃən/
fixed phrase
avoid someone’s humiliating experience
To stop something from happening so that a person does not have to feel humiliation.
Exemples
- To spare her the humiliation, they told everyone she was leaving for personal reasons.
- Please, just tell me the truth now and spare me the humiliation later.
suffer humiliation
1/sˈʌfɚ hjumˌɪliˈeɪʃən/
fixed phrase
to experience humiliation
To go through an experience that makes you feel very ashamed and lose respect.
Exemples
- The team suffered humiliation in front of their home crowd.
- Many employees suffered humiliation during the harsh public review meetings.