humble

[[t]hʌ̱mb(ə)l[/t]]

humbler, humblest, humbles, humbling, humbled

1) ADJ-GRADED A humble person is not proud and does not believe that they are better than other people.

He gave a great performance, but he was very humble...

Andy was a humble, courteous and gentle man.

...a humble apology.

Syn:

unassuming

Ant:

proud

Derived words:

humbly ADV-GRADED ADV with v

`I'm a lucky man, undeservedly lucky,' he said humbly.

2) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n People with low social status are sometimes described as humble.

Spyros Latsis started his career as a humble fisherman in the Aegean...

He came from a fairly humble, poor background.

Syn:

lowly

3) ADJ-GRADED A humble place or thing is ordinary and not special in any way.

There are restaurants, both humble and expensive, that specialize in them...

Varndell made his own reflector for these shots from a strip of humble kitchen foil.

4) ADJ-GRADED (politeness) People use humble in a phrase such as in my humble opinion as a polite way of emphasizing what they think, even though they do not feel humble about it.

It is, in my humble opinion, perhaps the best steak restaurant in Great Britain.

Syn:

modest

Derived words:

humbly ADV-GRADED ADV before v

So may I humbly suggest we all do something next time.

5) PHRASE: V inflects If you eat humble pie, you speak or behave in a way which tells people that you admit you were wrong about something.

Anson was forced to eat humble pie and publicly apologise to her.

6) VERB If you humble someone who is more important or powerful than you, you defeat them easily.

[V n] Honda won fame in the 1980s as the little car company that humbled the industry giants...

[V n] Third-placed Barnet were humbled 3-0 at Crewe.

7) VERB If something or someone humbles you, they make you realize that you are not as important or good as you thought you were.

[V n] Ted's words humbled me...

[V n] I am sure millions of viewers were humbled by this story.

Derived words:

humbled ADJ-GRADED

I came away very humbled and recognizing that I, for one, am not well-informed.

humbling ADJ-GRADED

Giving up an addiction is a humbling experience.