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bowed

bowed

7.6
Lowering the head and showing too much respect to others
  • adjective
  • /baʊd/
translation icon : humilde
  • He entered the room with a bowed head, barely meeting anyone's gaze.

Examples

  • Her bowed demeanor made it clear she would not challenge authority.

  • The bowed gesture showed her humility.

  • The servant's bowed attitude irritated his proud employer.

  • He had a bowed head as he apologized.

  • He entered the room with a bowed head, signaling his humility in front of the crowd.

  • Her bowed demeanor suggested she was not ready to express her own opinions.

  • The student spoke with a bowed attitude during the meeting, showing deep respect for the teacher's authority.

Synonyms

humble
vsbowed
222 2.8

Not proud and not thinking you are better than others

is stronger showing an extreme and overly deferential attitude
bowing
vsbowed
7.2

Showing too much respect so you seem weak

is the same meaning but appears as an adjective ending with -ed instead of -ing

Antonyms

1.0

Feeling very pleased and good about something you or someone close did

260 4.5

Behaving as if you are more important or better than other people

Idioms

1 6.5

Very tired and weighed down by too much work or worry

Compounds

A string instrument played with a bow, like a violin

How Humble

obsequious
  • Formal
7 9.3
subservient
14 7.6
bowed
7.6
deferential
  • Formal
10 6.6
respectful
150 1.1
polite
329 1.0

Surface Forms

bowed positive

Morphology

bowed = bow (semi-transparent) = bow + ed

Derived from 'bow' = 'bend', but the attitudinal meaning ('submissive' or 'deferential') is an extended, socially grounded sense rather than strictly literal.

Etymology

The word bowed meaning 'humble' comes from the action bow, meaning 'to bend' at the waist as a sign of respect, so a bowed head shows humility.