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indignity

indignity

27 6.8
An act that makes someone feel ashamed and lose self-respect
  • noun
  • /ɪnˈdɪɡnɪti/
translation icon : indignidad
  • The indignity of having to beg for help shattered her pride and self-respect.
  • suffer indignities
  • such indignities
  • small indignities

The women fought the process least, most being already keenly aware of what indignities and pain could attend the creation of life.

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Examples

  • As an Indian woman, how could you accept the indignity of prison?

  • As his wife, she could surely live well without suffering the indignities required by certain men.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • And that just took me over the edge, the indignity, the indignity.

  • Why am I again and again subject to the indignity of hands?

    Fiction book (1999)
  • I will not do him such an indignity.

  • It's nothing compared to the indignity of her wasting away.

  • Indeed, more than one-third of all British households "suffer the indignity" of not having a car.

    Academic text (1990)
  • But it is the smaller indignities that seem to weigh heaviest in her memory.

    Academic text (2011)
  • The women fought the process least, most being already keenly aware of what indignities and pain could attend the creation of life.

  • I was wondering why I didn't pack this thing five years ago, six years ago, 10 years ago, instead of sticking around here and suffering every indignity and humiliation.

Synonyms

humiliation
vsindignity
  • Offensive
148 4.2

A feeling of shame and loss of respect for yourself after being made to look foolish

is an action or circumstance that causes that shame rather than the feeling
mortification
vsindignity
2 8.6

A strong feeling of shame or deep embarrassment

is an act or event that causes shame but not necessarily extreme intensity
ignominy
vsindignity
  • Literature
2 9.3

Shame and loss of respect felt by many people

is an act or circumstance causing shame that need not be public
abasement
vsindignity
  • Formal
1 8.9

A feeling of deep shame when people treat you as unimportant

is an act or event that causes shame rather than the low status

Antonyms

647 1.8

A feeling of satisfaction and self-respect in yourself or others

398 3.2

Calm, respectful behaviour that shows self-respect in hard times

How Humiliating

degradation
16 6.3
humiliation
  • Offensive
148 4.2
indignity
27 6.8
insult
  • Offensive
313 1.3
offense
  • US
344 3.9

Surface Forms

indignity singular
indignities plural

Morphology

indignity = dignity (semi-transparent) = in + dignity

The negative prefix 'in-' plus 'dignity' is recognizable, but 'indignity' usually denotes a humiliating act or treatment rather than simply 'not dignity', so the relation is not fully literal.

Etymology

The word indignity comes from the old parts in- 'not' and dignity, from a word meaning 'worthy' or 'worth'. So an indignity is something that makes you feel 'not worthy' or shamed.