ignominious
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɪɡnəˈmɪniəs/
Forms: form: more ignominious
form: most ignominious
Etymology: From French or Old French ignominieux, from Latin ignōminiōsus (“disgraceful”), from ignōminia (“loss of a good name, ignominy”), from ig- (“not”) + nomen (“name”) (prefix assimilated form of in-). By surface analysis, ignominy + -ious.
Senses: examples: text: The time when the pseudovirtuous men and women die a painful and ignominious death has yet to come.
text: Hath he not tvvit our Soueraigne Lady here / VVith ignominious vvords, though Clarkely coucht? / As if ſhe had ſuborned ſome to ſvveare / Falſe allegations, to o'rethrovv his ſtate.
ref: 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 131, column 2:
text: The golden eagle, which glittered in the front of the legion, was the object of their fondest devotion; nor was it esteemed less impious than it was ignominious, to abandon that sacred ensign in the hour of danger.
ref: 1776, Edward Gibbon, chapter I, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC:
text: And it came to pass that they took him; and his name was Nehor; and they carried him upon the top of the hill Manti, and there he was caused, or rather did acknowledge, between the heavens and the earth, that what he had taught to the people was contrary to the word of God; and there he suffered an ignominious death.
ref: 1830, The Book of Mormon:
text: [T]he façade of the cathedral did not stand ignominious in faded stucco, but had upon it the magnificent promise of the half-completed marble inlaying and statued niches, which Giotto had devised a hundred and fifty years before; […]
ref: 1862 July – 1863 August, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “The Barber’s Shop”, in Romola. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1863, →OCLC, book I, page 53:
text: Greene died of a debauch; and Marlowe, the gracer of tragedians, perished in an ignominious brawl.
ref: 1902, Thomas Ebenezer Webb, The Mystery of William Shakespeare: A Summary of Evidence, page 242:
text: In sheer malignity, thinking to set back our plans and avenge himself for his ignominious expulsion, this traitor has crept here under cover of night and destroyed our work of nearly a year.
ref: 1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:
text: For Roy Hodgson it was a desperate and ignominious way to end his four years as England manager. Whatever else happened in that time, his period in office will probably always be remembered for the full-on humiliation that accompanied this defeat and the knowledge it will rank among the more infamous results in the history of the national team.
ref: 2016 June 27, Daniel Taylor, “England humiliated as Iceland knock them out of Euro 2016”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC:
text: And yet it also seems that Khashoggi avoided anything as ignominious as personal bankruptcy.
ref: 2017 June 7, Adam Lusher, “Adnan Khashoggi: the ‘whoremonger’ whose arms deals funded a playboy life of decadence and ‘pleasure wives’”, in The Independent, London: Independent News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC:
text: “Oh, what in the Sam Hill are you a-wearing? I thought I was supposed to be Twain.” “I say you are incorrect, sir. I believe we decided I would be Twain.” “Twin Twains? That dog won't hunt.” “Uh, Mr. Clemens?” “Mmhmm. That's me.” “No, I'm Twain. Switch costumes, you ignominious pretender.” “You're more stubborn than a senate mule.” “Grits, grits, grits!” “Tarnation!” “Fancy pants, big-city lawyer.” “I say you are incorrect, sir.”
ref: 2023 September 21, Grace Parra Janney, “Something Borrowed, Something Green” (9:29 from the start), in Star Trek: Lower Decks, season 4, episode 4, spoken by Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid):
synonyms: word: abject
word: base
word: beggarly
word: blameworthy
word: carrion
word: cheap
word: contemptible
word: cringing
word: dedecorous
word: degraded
word: deridable
word: derisible
word: despicable
word: despisable
word: dirty
word: discreditable
word: disdainable
word: disgraceful
word: dishonorable
word: disreputable
word: execrable
word: groveling
word: ignoble
word: ignominious
word: inglorious
word: lame
word: laughable
word: loathsome
word: ludicrous
word: low
word: mean
word: mean-spirited
word: miserable
word: obscene
word: outrageous
word: pitiable
word: pitiful
word: plebeian
word: paltry
word: putrid
word: reprehensible
word: reptile
word: reptilian
word: reptitious
word: ridiculous
word: risible
word: roynish
word: scald
word: scornworthy
word: scummy
word: scurvy
word: shabby
word: shameful
word: sleazy
word: slavish
word: slimy
word: sordid
word: sorry
word: trashy
word: ugly
word: uncommendable
word: uncool
word: unmentionable
word: unwashed
word: unsophisticated
word: unworthy
word: vile
word: vulgar
word: weak
word: worthless
word: wretched
glosses: Marked by great disgrace, dishonour, humiliation, or shame; disgraceful, shameful.
Derived terms: ignominiously
ignominiousness
unignominious
Related terms: ignominy