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Glite Dictionary
ignominious

ignominious

7 9.0
Causing public shame and a loss of respect
  • adjective
  • /ˌɪɡnəˈmɪniəs/
  • Formal
translation icon : ignominioso
  • It was an ignominious end to an illustrious career.
  • an ignominious defeat

Your movement will die an ignominious death.

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Examples

  • Now you are forever tarnished with ignominious defeat.

    Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventure (1995)

  • The athlete faced an ignominious defeat after leading the race for most of the lap.

  • What an ignominious end that would have been.

    Gangs of New York (2002)

  • Can the United States avoid joining this ignominious club?

    Academic text (2011)

  • The choice was now between death and ignominious departure.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • The dean was eventually, after failing to bring the rankings back up, forced into ignominious resignation.

    Blog text (5)

  • Los Angeles has the ignominious distinction of being the homeless capital of the nation, and skid row is ground zero of the crisis.

    The Soloist (2009)

  • A somewhat similar situation occurred in 1972 when the Watergate scandal led to an ignominious end to Richard Nixon's second term.

    Academic text (1990)

  • The news was filled with the ignominious defeats of Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist armies.

    Academic text (2000)

  • She was forced to resign in ignominious shame after the scandal was revealed.

Synonyms

shameful
vsignominious
89 4.7

Causing shame because it is morally wrong

focuses more on public disgrace and social humiliation
humiliating
vsignominious
  • Offensive
80 4.5

Making someone feel embarrassed or ashamed in front of other people

is about public shame and social disgrace rather than private embarrassment
disgraceful
vsignominious
46 3.0

Very bad or shocking behaviour that makes people lose respect

is more about causing public shame and humiliation
scandalous
vsignominious
  • Literature
43 5.0

Causing shock or strong disapproval by offending people's ideas of right and wrong

is broader, meaning public shame rather than only shock
dishonorable
vsignominious
  • US
23 6.0

Not honest or fair and causing shame

is about public social shame rather than private moral failing
ignoble
vsignominious
4 8.1

Dishonorable in character or purpose

is focused on causing public shame and humiliation rather than low quality
inglorious
vsignominious
3 7.5

Causing shame and loss of respect

stresses public disgrace and personal humiliation rather than lost honor

Antonyms

honorable
  • US
253 3.7

A person who behaves in a morally good way and deserves respect

How Shameful

disgraceful
46 3.0
ignominious
  • Formal
7 9.0
shameful
89 4.7
humiliating
  • Offensive
80 4.5
embarrassing
496 2.4

Surface Forms

ignominious positive
ignominiouser comparative
ignominiousest superlative

Morphology

ignominious = ignominy (semi-transparent) = ignominy + ous

Formation from the noun 'ignominy' + '-ous' is regular, but 'ignominy' itself and the Latin-derived form 'ignom-' are not fully transparent to average learners.

Etymology

Ignominious comes from the Latin parts in- meaning 'not' and nomen meaning 'name'. So it originally meant being 'without a good name', and today it describes something that brings public shame or disgrace.