Make Your Point > Archived Issues > IGNOMINIOUS
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Guess which novel below includes some form of the word ignominious ("shameful, embarrassing, scandalous, indecent") a whopping 24 times?
Is it Robinson Crusoe?
Or The Scarlet Letter?
Or The Island of Doctor Moreau?
You're right if you guessed the second one. That red letter A on Hester's dress was the in-your-face symbol of ignominy, or shame.
Ignominious looks a bit like ignore and ignoble because they all share the prefix "ig-," meaning "not." ("Ig-" is another way to spell "in-," as in "insane and "invisible.")
Ignominious literally means "not having a good name," or "having lost one's good's name," so you can also see how it's related to words like name, noun, nominal, nominate, and several that we've studied.
See if you can recall them:
1. This three-syllable noun means "something's name that sends the wrong message about it."
2. This seven-syllable adjective means "involving words that actually sound like what they mean." (Yup, no big deal. You like to throw around seven-syllable adjectives, right? They're your jam.)
3. This three-word French term means "the fake name someone uses to take part in a war or a competition."
In all three, you'll see "nom-," meaning "name, word, or reputation."
(To reveal a word defined above, give the definition a click.)
make your point with...
"IGNOMINIOUS"
Think of how someone's disgraceful behavior gives that person a bad name. For example, the name "Bill Cosby" was once very good, but now it's a "bad name," since he's in jail for assaulting women.
The word "ignominious" comes from a Latin one meaning "disgrace," or more literally, "having lost one's good name."
Ignominious things are shameful, disgraceful, or dishonorable; they give the person who did them a bad name.
Pronunciation:
IGG no MIN ee us
Part of speech:
Adjective: "her career came to an ignominious end," "their defeat was utterly ignominious."
Other forms:
The adverb is "ignominiously."
For a noun, you can use "ignominiousness," or my preference, "ignominy," pronounced "IG nuh min ee." (Sometimes you'll see it shortened to "ignomy," but I don't recommend doing that--people are likely to see it as an error.)
How to use it:
"Ignominious" is a mouthful. On the ladder of formality, it's a few steps above "shameful," and maybe one step above "reprehensible." So, reach for it when you need to call extra attention to just how bad someone's behavior is--at least, in the eyes of whoever's judging that person.
We often talk about ignominious ends, exits, losses, defeats, and failures; as well as ignominious pasts, histories, track records, and distinctions.
But you can call just about any bad choice, bad habit, or shameful event or series of events ignominious. For example, talk about an ignominious step, meeting, attack, journey, setback, turn of events, etc.
examples:
"Nixon was impeached and then resigned in ignominy the following year."
— Tamer Fakahany, Associated Press, 4 September 2019
"Amazon's cashier-less grocery shop is going through some teething problems, according to the Wall Street Journal. Specifically, the new shop can’t handle tracking more than about 20 people at the same time, and freaks out 'if an item has been moved from its specific spot on the shelf' the paper writes, citing unnamed sources. It's an ignominious start for what was supposed to be the future of the grocery store."
— Alex Hern, The Guardian, 29 March 2017
has this page helped you understand "ignominious"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "ignominious" without saying "humiliating" or "ruining the reputation."
try it out:
The word "ignominious" tends to be deeply serious. It's a heavy word.
Now, if you don't mind a bit of dark humor, read on.
Perhaps the most ignominious of awards are the Darwins, which "commemorate individuals who protect our gene pool by eliminating themselves in an extraordinarily idiotic manner."
At present, the most recent "winners" are two Texans who tried to drive their car up and over a raised drawbridge. It didn't work.
That's a pretty ignominious end for the Texans. Using your imagination, could you top it? What's the most ignominious way you can think of to leave this mortal life?
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
This month, we'll play "What's the Word?"
On Reddit, r/whatstheword is a community of about 55,000 members: folks who gather to help each other out when they can't think of a particular word. "It's on the tip of my tongue," they say. Or, "This word might not even exist. Help!"
In this community, you post your question, describe as best you can the word or phrase that you can't think of, and wait for members to jump in and post responses. Often, they land on exactly the word you want. Sometimes you even learn a new one. (For example, the community taught me the term "semantic satiation." It's that thing when you say or hear a word over and over until it becomes meaningless.)
In each issue this month, check out a post from the community, and see if you can come up with the word or phrase in question. We'll work our way from relatively easy to extremely hard questions as the month goes on.
Keep in mind that the right answer might be a phrase--that is, two or more words--even if the member asked for a single word.
Try this today: A community member asked, "What's the word for the state of being all or nothing? For example, you are either someone's biological child or you're not; this cannot be a transitory or fluctuating state. You cannot be in Europe and in the Pacific Ocean at the same time; it's one or the other, all or not at all." Can you think of that word or phrase?
I'll share the answer in the upcoming issue, but if you can't wait, you can view the whole original thread here.
review this word:
1. A near opposite of IGNOMINIOUS is
A. TRUTHFUL.
B. DEPENDABLE.
C. RESPECTABLE.
2. Of Sergio Garcia, who _____, Golfworld wrote, "The ignominy is entirely of his own making."
A. won 35 international tournaments
B. used his club to take out his rage on the greens
C. named his daughter Azalea, not just a flower but a certain 13th hole
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Guess which novel below includes some form of the word ignominious ("shameful, embarrassing, scandalous, indecent") a whopping 24 times?
"IGNOMINIOUS" Think of how someone's disgraceful behavior gives that person a bad name. For example, the name "Bill Cosby" was once very good, but now it's a "bad name," since he's in jail for assaulting women.
"Nixon was impeached and then resigned in ignominy the following year."
Explain the meaning of "ignominious" without saying "humiliating" or "ruining the reputation."
The word "ignominious" tends to be deeply serious. It's a heavy word.
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. A near opposite of IGNOMINIOUS is
|