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MORTIFYING
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Causing awareness of your shortcomings
Example:
golf is a humbling game
Synonyms:
demeaning; humbling; humiliating; mortifying
Classified under:
Similar:
undignified (lacking dignity)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Causing to feel shame or chagrin or vexation
Example:
it was mortifying to know he had heard every word
Synonyms:
embarrassing; mortifying
Classified under:
Similar:
unpleasant (offensive or disagreeable; causing discomfort or unhappiness)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
-ing form of the verb mortify
Context examples:
It would be mortifying her severely.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
It was as incomprehensible as it was mortifying and grievous.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
When she came to that part of the letter in which her family were mentioned in terms of such mortifying, yet merited reproach, her sense of shame was severe.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Captain Wentworth was on the watch for them, and a chaise and four in waiting, stationed for their convenience in the lowest part of the street; but his evident surprise and vexation at the substitution of one sister for the other, the change in his countenance, the astonishment, the expressions begun and suppressed, with which Charles was listened to, made but a mortifying reception of Anne; or must at least convince her that she was valued only as she could be useful to Louisa.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
A real injury to the children—a most mortifying change, and material loss to them all;—a very great deduction from her father's daily comfort—and, as to herself, she could not at all endure the idea of Jane Fairfax at Donwell Abbey.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
Well, they can eat beef and bread and butter, if they are hungry, only it's mortifying to have to spend your whole morning for nothing, thought Jo, as she rang the bell half an hour later than usual, and stood, hot, tired, and dispirited, surveying the feast spread before Laurie, accustomed to all sorts of elegance, and Miss Crocker, whose tattling tongue would report them far and wide.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
The unhealthy nature of the site; the quantity and quality of the children's food; the brackish, fetid water used in its preparation; the pupils' wretched clothing and accommodations—all these things were discovered, and the discovery produced a result mortifying to Mr. Brocklehurst, but beneficial to the institution.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Bad indeed must the nature of Marianne's affliction be, when her mother could talk of fortitude! mortifying and humiliating must be the origin of those regrets, which SHE could wish her not to indulge!
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
I dined twice in Wimpole Street, and might have been there oftener, but it is mortifying to be with Rushworth as a brother.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
It would be mortifying to the feelings of many ladies, could they be made to understand how little the heart of man is affected by what is costly or new in their attire; how little it is biased by the texture of their muslin, and how unsusceptible of peculiar tenderness towards the spotted, the sprigged, the mull, or the jackonet.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
