Ignominious | Make Sure You Know This Word for Your SAT Test
If it's ignominious, it's shameful, disgraceful, yucky, terrible, just awful.
If something is ignominious, it is extremely disgraceful, shameful, terrible, and humiliating, right in front of everybody.
It’s a powerful word that can be a little tricky to pronounce the first time you see it (it’s got five short syllables), but I think it takes saying it only a few times out loud to get the pronunciation down. And like the word indubitably, it can be fun to say out loud.
So ignominious would be used to refer to pretty much the most shameful, embarrassing, perhaps hypocritical acts or failures that you could imagine. Think of a public leader who was caught with incontrovertible evidence committing some terrible crime that is universally decried (like a mayor caught on video buying controlled substances), or a loud, toxic influencer bragging about something he would end up failing at (for example, losing a boxing match on live TV). These could both be described as ignominious.
📚️ Definition of Ignominious
Ignominious (adjective): Deserving or causing public shame, disgrace, or dishonor; marked by or attended with humiliation. Example: an ignominious defeat.
🗣️ Pronunciation of Ignominious
IPA: /ˌɪɡ.nəˈmɪn.i.əs/ (See IPA key)
Respelling: ig-nuh-MIN-ee-uhs
📰 Examples of Ignominious
Here are some examples of the word ignominious:
Napoleon suffered an ignominious defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. This would lead to the end of his rule as Emperor of France and to his exile by the British to the island of St. Helena.
The expedition that had held so much promise came to an ignominious end when the adventures met their demise in cold weather they were not prepared or equipped for.
And if you liked this word, you’ll love its noun form, ignominy.
Come back tomorrow for a word that starts with a silent k.