HUMILITY • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Humility

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/hjumˈɪlɪti/ Listen

noun

Humility n. (pl. humilities)

The state or quality of being humble; freedom from pride and arrogance; lowliness of mind; a modest estimate of one's own worth; a sense of one's own unworthiness through imperfection and sinfulness; self-abasement; humbleness. "Serving the Lord with all humility of mind."

An act of submission or courtesy. "With these humilities they satisfied the young king."

Synonyms: Lowliness; humbleness; meekness; modesty; diffidence. Humility, Modesty, Diffidence. Diffidence is a distrust of our powers, combined with a fear lest our failure should be censured, since a dread of failure unconnected with a dread of censure is not usually called diffidence. It may be carried too far, and is not always, like modesty and humility, a virtue. Modesty, without supposing self-distrust, implies an unwillingness to put ourselves forward, and an absence of all over-confidence in our own powers. Humility consists in rating our claims low, in being willing to waive our rights, and take a lower place than might be our due. It does not require of us to underrate ourselves.

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Etymology of 'Humility'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Humility" Quotes from Famous Books

... a rigid arm and stuffed blue shape, Backed by a nickel star Does prod him on, Taking his proud patience for humility... All gutters are as one To that old race that has been thrust From off the curbstones of the world... And he smiles with the pale irony Of one who holds The wisdom of the Talmud stored away ...

— The Ghetto and Other Poems • Lola Ridge

... cruelty, of injustice, and inquire what are its benefits, even in this temporal state, the great and the humble, the rich and the poor, the powerful and the weak, the learned and the ignorant reply, as with one voice, that humility and resignation, purity, order, and peace, faith, hope, and charity are its ...

— McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader • William Holmes McGuffey

... the house was crowded that night, and the fat Jew manager who met them at the door was beaming from ear to ear with an oily, tremulous smile. He escorted them to their box with a sort of pompous humility, waving his fat jewelled hands, and talking at the top of his voice. Dorian Gray loathed him more than ever. He felt as if he had come to look for Miranda and had been met by Caliban. Lord Henry, upon ...

— The Picture of Dorian Gray • Oscar Wilde

... not the spirit of religion. The spirit of criticism is a questioning spirit; the spirit of religion is a spirit of faith, of humility and submission. Other qualities may go to the formation of a religious character in the highest and grandest sense of the word; but the virtues which religious teachers most generally approve, which make up the ideal of a Catholic saint, which the Catholic and all other churches endeavour most ...

— Short Studies on Great Subjects • James Anthony Froude

... the fearful humility of the Parliament when the youthful Louis XIV. entered, whip in hand, to pronounce his brief speech. We know with what increasing impertinence the Constituent Assembly treated Louis XVI. as it felt that he was becoming defenceless. Finally, we recall the terror of ...

— The Psychology of Revolution • Gustave le Bon

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