humiliate

humiliate — verb

1. to deliberately do or say something that makes another person feel deeply embarr

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to deliberately do or say something that makes another person feel deeply embarrassed, foolish, or worthless, especially when other people are watching or listening

Example

The coach humiliated Theo by making him run laps in front of the team.

active: humiliate + someone + by + doing something

Leila felt humiliated when her boss read her private email out loud at the meeting.

Common collocations
  • humiliate + someone + in front of + [people]
  • feel + humiliated
  • be + humiliated + by
  • humiliate + someone + publicly
  • humiliate + yourself
Synonyms
  • embarrass

    milder and often accidental; humiliate implies deliberate intent and deeper shame

  • shame

    carries moral weight, implying wrongdoing; humiliate focuses on loss of dignity

  • mortify

    formal register; suggests acute, almost painful embarrassment

  • degrade

    focuses on lowering rank or treating someone as inferior

Antonyms
  • praise

    to express approval, the opposite of making someone feel worthless

  • honor

    to show respect, the opposite of causing loss of dignity

  • respect

    to treat with admiration, the opposite of humiliating treatment

Grammar Patterns

humiliate + someone

humiliate + someone + by + -ing

be humiliated + by + someone

Usage Note

Frequently used in the passive voice (be humiliated). The active form usually describes a deliberate act, while the passive focuses on the victim's emotional experience. Often followed by by (the agent), for (the reason), or in front of (the audience).

Common Mistakes

The teacher humiliated at the student for being late.
The teacher humiliated the student for being late.
humiliate is transitive and must take a direct object.
She humiliated when her friends laughed at her hat.
She felt humiliated when her friends laughed at her hat.
humiliate is active and needs an object; use the passive or feel + humiliated for self-directed emotion.

Word family

  • humiliation
    nounB2
  • humiliating
    adjectiveB2
  • humiliatingly
    adverbC1
  • humble
    adjectiveB2
  • humility
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

These four words all describe making someone feel bad about themselves, but they differ in severity and focus. Embarrass is the mildest — it describes an awkward, uncomfortable feeling that can come from an accident or social slip, such as spilling a drink. Shame carries moral weight, implying the person has done something wrong or dishonorable. Mortify is a strong, formal word for embarrassment so acute it feels almost painful. Degrade focuses on lowering someone's status or treating them as less than human. Humiliate sits between embarrass and shame: it involves a deliberate act that strips someone of dignity in front of others. For instance, 'The host embarrassed the guest by forgetting his name' is mild, but 'The host humiliated the guest by mocking his accent at the dinner table' describes a calculated attack on someone's worth.

embarrass ↗shame ↗mortify ↗degrade ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • humiliate yourself
  • feel humiliated
  • humiliate someone in public

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Humiliate comes from the Latin verb humiliare, meaning 'to make low' or 'to bring down to the ground.' This verb is built on humilis ('lowly, humble'), which in turn comes from humus ('ground' or 'earth'). The core image is of pushing someone down physically — and over time the meaning shifted to bringing someone down socially or emotionally. The word entered English through French in the 1500s.