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Synonyms for humble

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  1. Meek

    lowly, submissive, gentle, quiet, unassuming, diffident, simple, retiring, bashful, shy, timid, reserved, docile, deferential, backward, self-conscious, soft-spoken, coy, demure, blushing, sheepish, standoffish, mild, timorous, withdrawn, unpretentious, unobtrusive, hesitant, apprehensive, fearful, tentative, self-belittling, poor in spirit, tractable, sedate, unpretending, supplicatory, small, biddable, unpresuming, self-effacing, little, slavish, broken, ductile, obsequious, reverential, manageable, subservient, ordinary, unambitious, commonplace, free from pride, peaceful, placid, without arrogance, peaceable, obedient, passive, broken in spirit, tame, clement, restrained, enduring, stoic, yielding, stoical, acquiescent, unostentatious, unimportant, of little importance, of small importance, gentle as a lamb, meek-spirited, meek-hearted, low, unresisting, resigned, subdued, tolerant, content, compliant, underdogmatic*, mealy-mouthed*, Micawberish*, eating humble pie*; see also modest 2.

    Antonyms proud*, haughty, conceited.

  2. Lowly

    unpretentious, unassuming, modest, seemly, becoming, homespun, natural, plebeian, low, cringing, out-of-the-way, proletarian, servile, undistinguished, pitiful, sordid, shabby, underprivileged, meager, beggarly, log-cabin, commonplace, menial, unimportant, insignificant, small, poor, untouched, unvarnished, unaffected, rough, hard, severe, unpretending, earthborn, base, meek, little, of low birth, obscure, inferior, baseborn, mean, inglorious, low-ranking, plain, common, homely, ignoble, low in rank, of low rank, simple, lowbred, uncouth, ignominious, of mean parentage, measly, contemptible, miserable, scrubby, ordinary, inferior, puny, humdrum, poorish, trivial, ill-bred, petty, underbred, paltry, unequal, vulgar, unrefined, wretched, unfit.

    Antonyms upper-class, noble*, privileged.

verb

shame, mortify, chasten, demean (oneself), demote, lower, crush, abash, hide one's face, bring low, put to shame, silence, reduce, humiliate, degrade, overcome, strike dumb, take down, put down, pull down, bring down, override, snub, confuse, discredit, deflate, upset, abase, make ashamed, put out of countenance, confound, deny, discomfit, take down a peg*, pull one off one's high horse*, put down*, squelch*, squash*, hide one's light under a bushel*, kiss the rod*; see also disgrace, embarrass 1.

Antonyms exalt, praise*, glorify.

to humble is to lower the pride or increase the humility of oneself or another, and, unqualified, suggests that such lowering is deserved humbled by the frightening experience; to humiliate is to humble or shame another painfully and in public humiliated by their laughter; degrade literally means to lower in grade or rank, but it commonly implies a lowering or corrupting of moral character and self-respect; abase suggests a loss, often merely temporary and self-imposed, of dignity and respect he abased himself before his employer; debase implies a decline in value, quality, or character a debased mind

See humble in Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus II

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