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
Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 14 Sep. 2025
Luckily, the best ramen town in the country (in my humble opinion) is an easy day trip from Tokyo.
—Kim Kay, Travel + Leisure, 14 Sep. 2025
Kansas City Star, 12 Sep. 2025
Jones is a fairly accurate, experienced quarterback who has the new playbook down and who has been humbled a bit.
—Vic Tafur, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for humble
Adjective
Instead, Southern Living readers favored a slightly simpler recipe that despite its humble ingredients comes together to form a cake that's more than the sum of its parts.
—Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 14 Sep. 2025
Luckily, the best ramen town in the country (in my humble opinion) is an easy day trip from Tokyo.
—Kim Kay, Travel + Leisure, 14 Sep. 2025
Verb
So in this more cosmic sense, anyway, the Chiefs on Sunday hardly must beat visiting Philadelphia in a rematch of the humbling 40-22 TKO the Eagles administered in Super Bowl LIX.
—Kansas City Star, 12 Sep. 2025
Jones is a fairly accurate, experienced quarterback who has the new playbook down and who has been humbled a bit.
—Vic Tafur, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for humble
Recent Examples of Synonyms for humble
Adjective
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Doherty, 30, is playing meek flower shop assistant Seymour in the treasured musical, about a strange and unusual plant that feeds only on human flesh and blood.—
Dave Quinn,
PEOPLE,
18 Sep. 2025
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What threatened to be a meek, straight-sets exit for the 13th seed went full-metal crazy on match point down when Bonzi was interrupted from serving it out after a photographer absent-mindedly walked onto the court.—
Tim Ellis,
Forbes.com,
26 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The report said that water storage in Washington’s five reservoirs in the Yakima River Basin has dropped sharply, bringing levels, at times, to some of the lowest measured since record-keeping started in 1971.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
14 Sep. 2025
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The ultra-low-cost model clearly isn't providing customer satisfaction, even if the fares look cheap.—
Christopher Elliott,
Forbes.com,
14 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Bahrain is ruled by Sunnis and has a mostly Shiite population permanently restless over its servile condition.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
13 June 2025
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His servile defense secretary has threatened to deploy the military in other cities.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
13 June 2025
Verb
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Continually moving the goalposts or using testing to humiliate or control can cause relational harm.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
14 Sep. 2025
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And Sacks, a PayPal Mafia member and veteran Silicon Valley investor, is just the sort of titan of industry this town routinely devours and humiliates — from Rex Tillerson to, well, Elon Musk.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Combined with the tax credit and modest prices, making the jump to an EV now may be a wise decision.—
Ramon Padilla,
USA Today,
13 Sep. 2025
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Falling consumption keeps price hike modest – up only 15% over five years.—
Jonathan Lansner,
Oc Register,
13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The Knicks will look to be one of the best teams in the league, and that will certainly be the case in the lowly Eastern Conference.—
Ricardo Klein,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Sep. 2025
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Urquidy figures to play a big role in avoiding a series sweep against the lowly Miami Marlins.—
Cody Stavenhagen,
New York Times,
14 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Our narrator, a gay, happily married father of two disentangling himself from a poly love affair, is—depending on the light—brilliant, self-mythologizing, abject, hopeful, and vulnerable.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 Sep. 2025
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Weaknesses: About that quarterback: Caleb Williams was drafted No. 1 overall into a pretty favorable situation, making his rookie season an abject failure (particularly relative to the No. 2 pick).—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
26 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Holmes likewise discredited the MS-13 accusation, for which prosecutors relied on the testimony of coöperating witnesses who either contradicted one another or were otherwise unreliable.—
Cristian Farias,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
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The Cordell report has since been discredited — missing transcripts, factual errors and even confusion of key witnesses.—
Matthew J. Frauenfeld,
Mercury News,
12 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Humble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/humble. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.
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