Make Your Point > Archived Issues > HUMILITY
Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.
explore the archives:
Like yesterday's grandeur, humility is one of those easy words that I feature anyway because they're so good to have on hand when we need them. Your humility is your humbleness: your lack of pretentiousness, lack of pride, lack of ego, and lack of hub___ (over-the-top self-confidence).
make your point with...
"HUMILITY"
To be humble is to have humility: that low, quiet, meek belief that you're not the best. In other words, humility is the absence of pride or the absence of haughtiness.
Note that "humility" doesn't mean "humiliation." The two look alike and are closely related, tied as they are to the idea of lowness, but humility is a lack of pride: it isn't a feeling of deep embarrassment.
Pronunciation:
hyoo MILL ih tee
Part of speech:
Uncountable noun.
(Like "milk," "rice," and "education," uncountable nouns are words for stuff that can’t be broken into exact units. You talk about "some milk," "the rice," and "a lot of education," but you don’t say "a milk," "three rices," or "many educations."
Likewise, talk about "the humility," "such humility," "much humility," "no humility," and so on, but we usually don’t say "humilities.")
Other forms:
Humble, humbly.
"Humbleness" is also a word, but "humility" is much more common.
How to use it:
Talk about someone's humility (or someone's capacity or incapacity for humility), someone who has or shows humility, doing something with humility or saying something with humility, learning or teaching humility, and of course, lacking humility.
So far we've thought of humility as a trait belonging to people. It's less common, but you can also talk about the humility of a simple meal, the humility of a small apartment, and so on.
examples:
He approached his mother with humility, knowing she was under no obligation to loan him the money.
We had to skim through about a thousand of her tweets before we found one that demonstrates humility.
study it now:
Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "humility" means when you can explain it without saying "having no vanity" or "lack of conceitedness."
try it out:
Think of someone famous who seems down-to-earth and modest. Fill in the blanks: "Despite (some impressive accomplishment), (somebody) manages to (do something) with humility."
Example: "Despite having sung over fifty Top 40 songs, despite having sold over 300 million albums, Elton John manages to deliver acceptance speeches with humility."
before you review:
Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first.
This month, we're playing "You Know, That Thing!"
This game challenges your powers of recall. Start a timer: twenty seconds if you're an adult, longer if you're a kid or an English language learner. Read the description of each thing, and come up with its name. Try to name all three before your timer runs out. (Scroll all the way down for the answers.)
Ready for this last round? Go!
1. In English, a bullfighter is usually called a…
2. Any irrational belief that we hold about supernatural causes and effects is called a…
3. The experience of not being able to recall a word, even though you do know it, is called…
review today's word:
1. One opposite of HUMILITY is
A. ARROGANCE
B. DECEPTION
C. FORETHOUGHT
2. According to Samuel Andrew Peters's A General History of Connecticut, birds in the family Scolopacidæ are called Humilities because they _____.
A. sing gracefully
B. rarely fly very high
C. preen and strut nonstop
Answers are below.
a final word:
To be a sponsor and send your own message to readers of this list, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes.
Answers to review questions:
1. A
2. B
Answers to game questions:
1. matador
2. superstition
3. tip of the tongue, tip-of-the-tongue syndrome, tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon, lethonomia, or lethologica
Like yesterday's grandeur, humility is one of those easy words that I feature anyway because they're so good to have on hand when we need them. Your humility is your humbleness: your lack of pretentiousness, lack of pride, lack of ego, and lack of hub___ (over-the-top self-confidence).
"HUMILITY" To be humble is to have humility: that low, quiet, meek belief that you're not the best. In other words, humility is the absence of pride or the absence of haughtiness. Part of speech:
He approached his mother with humility, knowing she was under no obligation to loan him the money.
Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "humility" means when you can explain it without saying "having no vanity" or "lack of conceitedness."
Think of someone famous who seems down-to-earth and modest. Fill in the blanks: "Despite (some impressive accomplishment), (somebody) manages to (do something) with humility."
Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first.
1. One opposite of HUMILITY is
To be a sponsor and send your own message to readers of this list, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
|