Added 9 October 2026
ignominious
/ˌɪɡ.nə(ʊ)ˈmɪ.ni.əs/ adjective
In Latin: ignōminiōsus Wiktionary
adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about ignominious at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- Especially of a person: deserving of disgrace or dishonour; contemptible, despicable.
-
Causing or marked by disgrace or dishonour; disgraceful, dishonourable; also , humiliating, shameful.
The time when the pseudovirtuous men and women die a painful and ignominious death has yet to come.
Origin
From Late Middle English ignominious (“disgraceful, shameful”), from Middle French ignominieux (modern French ignominieux), or from its etymon Latin ignōminiōsus (“disgraced; disgraceful, shameful, ignominious”), from ignōminia (“disgrace, dishonour, shame, ignominy”) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of; overly; prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns). Ignōminia is derived from ig- (variant of in- (prefix meaning not) + nōmen (“name; good name, reputation”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥ (“name”)) + -ia (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)