1
as in meek
not having or showing any feelings of superiority, self-assertiveness, or showiness
a medical scientist who remained remarkably humble even after winning the Nobel Prize even though she'd been proven wrong, her attitude was still far from humble
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in low
belonging to the class of people of low social or economic rank
a humble peasant girl who claimed she was chosen by God to restore the French king to his throne
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3
as in servile
showing, expressing, or offered in a spirit of humility or unseemly submissiveness
please accept my humble thanks for this unexpected favor
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to humiliate
to reduce to a lower standing in one's own eyes or in others' eyes
Philip was utterly humbled by a crushing defeat in the first round of the state chess tournament
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of humble
Josh Dinner, Space.com, 14 Apr. 2025
Excessively humble leaders may struggle with indecisiveness or reluctance to take responsibility.
—Wayne Yu, Forbes.com, 10 Apr. 2025
Tasha Tsiaperas, Axios, 10 Mar. 2025
And boy, was our little squiggle game humbling too!
—Michael Alcée, Hartford Courant, 13 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for humble
Adjective
Though their time in space was short, all six stepped away from the experience feeling a serene sense of awe and humble amazement.
—Josh Dinner, Space.com, 14 Apr. 2025
Excessively humble leaders may struggle with indecisiveness or reluctance to take responsibility.
—Wayne Yu, Forbes.com, 10 Apr. 2025
Verb
State of clay: Start with a slab of clay and be humbled by the duality of its malleability and firmness.
—Tasha Tsiaperas, Axios, 10 Mar. 2025
And boy, was our little squiggle game humbling too!
—Michael Alcée, Hartford Courant, 13 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for humble
Recent Examples of Synonyms for humble
Adjective
-
Ahead of the clash with Bournemouth, Guardiola has said not even victory in the competition would salvage the poor showings in the Champions League and meek surrender of the Premier League title.—
Zak Garner-Purkis,
Forbes.com,
31 Mar. 2025
-
Episodes 5 and 6 inverted the relationship between abrasive eldest boy Saxon and the meek baby of the family, Lochlan.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
31 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The survey's measure of consumer sentiment dropped to a level lower than at any point during the Great Recession.—
Max Zahn,
ABC News,
11 Apr. 2025
-
Trust Is Built In Small Moments Like This For a co-op like Cabot Creamery, maintaining consumer trust means being transparent—even when the stakes are low.—
Stephanie Gravalese,
Forbes.com,
10 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
So Alex dons a uniform, buses tables and engages in servile labor for the first time in her life.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
23 Mar. 2025
-
Trump’s servile devotion to Putin becomes the new norm overnight as Republicans cower in support of Trump’s new Putin policy.—
Bob Kustra,
Chicago Tribune,
7 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
There was a period when Broadway creators thought the only way to get a performance was to humiliate a person.—
Mark Seliger,
Vulture,
7 Apr. 2025
-
An investigation of at least eight fraternities found that members humiliated students through means like beating them with paddles or forcing potential recruits to eat live fish and drink urine, according to court filings.—
Dan Belson,
Baltimore Sun,
3 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
That adds up to more than a modest, marginal performance boost.—
John Kannapell,
Forbes.com,
14 Apr. 2025
-
While there may be some modest concerns about his defensive impacts, Pionk is logging more than 22 minutes per night on the NHL’s best regular-season team.—
Chris Johnston,
New York Times,
14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Their offense has been nonexistent this season, scoring a measly 2.95 runs per game, which ranks last in the AL and 29th in all of MLB, only ahead of the lowly Rockies.—
Nicholas Creel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Apr. 2025
-
The Dubai chocolate craze has moved way past the lowly bar.—
Lisa Gutierrez,
Kansas City Star,
17 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
But there’s something abject about taking up such a fraught subject, wringing every ounce of suspense and dramatic potential out of it, and then backing away as though Tim’s arc is just another story of sad enlightenment.—
Sophie Gilbert,
The Atlantic,
8 Apr. 2025
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Later, the abject widow is found huddled with her relatives in the pale curve of an empty swimming pool, a glowing charcoal imbaula nearby to keep them warm.—
Namwali Serpell,
The New Yorker,
25 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
His tariffs were not based on the import taxes charged by other countries but by the size of each trade deficit, a calculation that instantly discredited the policy with many economists and investors.—
Time,
Time,
10 Apr. 2025
-
Bolsonaro’s efforts to discredit the election had already found allies abroad.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Humble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/humble. Accessed 24 Apr. 2025.
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