different between shameful vs humble

English

Etymology

From Middle English schameful, schamfull, from Old English *s?eamfull, s?eomfull, equivalent to shame +? -ful. Cognate with Danish skamfuld (“shameful, shamefast, ashamed”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??e?mf?l/

Adjective

shameful (comparative more shameful, superlative most shameful)

1. Causing or meriting shame or disgrace; disgraceful
   • 2009 February 19, Gareth Lewis, Southern Daily Echo:

     "They have turned a great old English institution into a shameful clip-joint. It's a shuddering, howling tragedy."

2. Giving offense.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:despicable

Derived terms

• shamefully
• shamefulness

Translations

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /?h?mb?l/
• (obsolete, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??mb?l/
• Rhymes: -?mb?l
• Hyphenation: hum?ble

Etymology 1

From Middle English humble, from Old French humble, umble, humle, from Latin humilis (“low, slight, hence mean, humble”) (compare Greek ??????? (khamalós, “on the ground, low, trifling”)), from humus (“the earth, ground”), humi (“on the ground”). See homage, and compare chameleon, humiliate. Displaced native Old English ?aþm?d.

The verb is from Middle English humblen (“to humble”).

Adjective

humble (comparative humbler or more humble, superlative humblest or most humble)

1. Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming.
   • 17th century, Abraham Cowley, The Shortness of Life and Uncertainty of Riches

     The wise example of the heavenly lark.
     Thy fellow poet, Cowley, mark,
     Above the clouds let thy proud music sound,
     Thy humble nest build on the ground.

2. Having a low opinion of oneself; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; modest.

   Synonyms: unassuming, modest
3. Near the ground.
   • 1952, E. B. White, Charlotte's Web, Harper Brothers:

     "Humble?" said Charlotte. "'Humble' has two meanings. It means 'not proud' and it means 'near the ground.' That's Wilbur all over. He's not proud and he's near the ground.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:humble

Antonyms

• arrogant
• snobby
• presumptuous
• smug

Derived terms

Related terms

• humbleness
• humiliate
• humiliation
• humility

Translations

Verb

humble (third-person singular simple present humbles, present participle humbling, simple past and past participle humbled)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To defeat or reduce the power, independence, or pride of
2. (transitive, often reflexive) To make humble or lowly; to make less proud or arrogant; to make meek and submissive.

Synonyms

• abase, lower, depress, humiliate, mortify, disgrace, degrade

Derived terms

• humblehood
• humbleness
• humbler (agent noun)
• humbly

Translations

Noun

humble (plural humbles)

1. (Baltimore, slang) An arrest based on weak evidence intended to demean or punish the subject.

Etymology 2

From Middle English *humblen, *humbelen (suggested by humblynge (“a humming, a faint rumbling”)), frequentative of Middle English hummen (“to hum”), equivalent to hum +? -le.

Verb

humble (third-person singular simple present humbles, present participle humbling, simple past and past participle humbled)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To hum.

Derived terms

• humblebee

Etymology 3

Noun

humble (plural humbles)

1. (Northern England, Scotland, also attributive) Alternative form of hummel.

Verb

humble (third-person singular simple present humbles, present participle humbling, simple past and past participle humbled)

1. (transitive) Alternative form of hummel.

Further reading

• humble in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• humble in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

French

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin humilis (“low, slight, hence mean, humble”) (compare Greek ??????? (khamalós, “on the ground, low, trifling”)), from humus (“the earth, ground”), humi (“on the ground”).

Pronunciation

• ^{(mute h)} IPA^(key): /œ?bl/
• Rhymes: -œ?bl
• Homophone: humbles

Adjective

humble (plural humbles)

1. humble

Related terms

• àmha
• à mon humble avis
• humblement
• humiliation
• humilier
• humilité

Further reading

• “humble” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Old French

Adjective

humble m (oblique and nominative feminine singular humble)

1. Alternative form of umble

Declension