French Conversation · Level 77
60 words
French word
humilier
Pronunciation
IPA/ymilje/
Meaning
- verbhumiliate
Example
Il ne faut pas humilier les enfants en public.
Children must not be humiliated in public.
More examples
Il a essayé d'humilier son collègue en racontant son erreur.
He tried to humiliate his colleague by recounting his mistake.
Core concept
A person is made to feel beneath others when criticism or treatment strips away their dignity.
Common phrases
humilier quelqu'un
humiliate someone
humilier en public
humiliate someone in public
Similar words
insulter: Use contemptuous words to criticize someone directly to their face.
ridiculiser: Mock someone's flaws and make that person an object of ridicule.
blesser: Hurt someone's feelings and make them sad, even through careless remarks.
rabaisser: Treat someone as inferior, lowering their status or sense of worth through words or actions.
Definition in French
Faire éprouver de la honte à quelqu'un par des paroles ou des actes, en abaissant sa dignité.
Word origin
Humilier is an inherited French development from Latin humiliare, meaning to lower or humble, which acquired its degrading modern sense.
Usage tips
- Humilier can describe private as well as public degradation, so public is not required for the verb to apply.
Related words
- humiliationhumiliationnoun
- humilianthumiliatingadjective
- humiliéhumiliatedadjective