humbleadjective
uk/ˈhʌm.bəl/us/ˈhʌm.bəl/C2 not proud or not believing that you are important:
He's very humble about his success.
formal Please accept our humble apologies for the error.
In my humble opinion (= I want to emphasize that I think that) we should never have bought the car in the first place.
C2 poor or of a low social rank:
Even when she became rich and famous, she never forgot her humble background.
ordinary; not special or very important:
At that time she was just a humble mechanic.
humorous Welcome to our humble abode (= our home).
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Shy and modest
- aw shucks
- backward
- bashful
- be backward in coming forward idiom
- coy
- efface
- inadequate
- inhibited
- inhibition
- introvert
- modest
- modesty
- selfless
- shrinking violet
- shy
- shyly
- shyness
- unassuming
- withdraw
- withdrawal
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Of little or less importance
Plain and ordinary
humbleverb [ T ]
uk/ˈhʌm.bəl/us/ˈhʌm.bəl/to make someone understand that they are not as important or special as they thought:
He was humbled by the child's generosity.
The world champion was humbled (= unexpectedly defeated) by an unknown outsider in last night's race.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Humiliating and degrading
- abase
- be under a cloud idiom
- bring/take sb down a peg (or two) idiom
- bruise
- bruise sb's ego idiom
- compromise
- cut sb down to size idiom
- deflate
- degrade
- dishonour
- doghouse
- exhibition
- fall from grace idiom
- forget
- indignity
- knock
- knock sb off their pedestal idiom 1
- knock sb off their pedestal
- lower your sights idiom
- peg
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humbling
adjective uk/ˈhʌm.bəl.ɪŋ/us/ˈhʌm.bəl.ɪŋ/
It's a humbling experience to see people being so positive about life when they have so little.