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Glite Dictionary
to eat humble pie

to eat humble pie

1 7.9
To admit you are wrong and feel embarrassed
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : comer humildes
  • He's certainly eaten humble pie.

And I had to really eat humble pie with that because I got to know him so well through letters.

Examples

  • And I had to really eat humble pie with that because I got to know him so well through letters.

    Anything Goes With James English

  • So they eat humble pie for all the good reasons.

  • I know when to eat humble pie.

    Last Chance Harvey (2008)

  • Mr. Bacon advises me to eat humble pie.

    What Price Hollywood? (1932)

  • After realizing his mistake in the presentation, he had to eat humble pie and apologize to his team.

  • When she lost the debate despite being so confident, she learned to eat humble pie and accept her flaws.

  • The politician had to eat humble pie when the public called him out for his broken promises.

Synonyms

to apologize
vsto eat humble pie
  • US
∞ 1.7

To say sorry to someone when you feel you did something wrong

is a direct admission of being wrong often with embarrassment rather than mere regret
to own up
vsto eat humble pie
  • Informal
38 4.4

Admit that you did something wrong or made a mistake

is about admitting error that is usually embarrassing or humiliating
to own up to
vsto eat humble pie
  • Informal
33 4.2

To say you did something wrong or embarrassing

is for admitting error that may be embarrassing without implying dishonesty
to swallow pride
vsto eat humble pie
  • Informal
9 5.7

To accept being wrong to make peace or get help

is admitting error mainly as humiliation rather than for a reconciliatory purpose
to eat crow
vsto eat humble pie
  • Informal
4 8.9

To admit you were wrong and feel embarrassed

is used for admitting error generally rather than only after arguments
to eat dirt
vsto eat humble pie
  • Informal
2 8.9

To admit you are wrong and accept feeling ashamed, often unwillingly

is a similar admission but not necessarily expressed unwillingly
to eat one's words
vsto eat humble pie
  • Informal
6.6

To admit you were wrong and take back what you said

is for admitting general wrongdoing rather than only correcting past statements

Antonyms

to take pride
45 3.4

To feel pleased about something you or others do

How Humiliated

to grovel
42 7.4
to eat humble pie
  • Informal
1 7.9
to apologize
  • US
∞ 1.7
to admit
∞ 2.0

Surface Forms

eat humble pie infinitive
ate humble pie past
eaten humble pie past participle
eating humble pie present participle
eats humble pie third person singular

Morphology

eat + humble + pie

The overall meaning 'to admit you were wrong in a humiliating way' cannot be derived from the literal senses of 'eat', 'humble' and 'pie' — there is no obvious compositional link that signals apology or admission. The phrase is idiomatic (historically from 'umble pie') and language-specific, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would likely not infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

Eat humble pie may come from an old dish called umble pie, made from the less nice parts of a deer and often eaten by servants after a hunt. Because eating that cheap, shameful food was embarrassing, eat humble pie came to mean 'to admit that you were wrong' or feel humiliated.