What does "humble" mean?
Humble: Thinking lowly of one's self; claiming little for one's self; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; thinking one's self ill-deserving or unworthy, when judged by the demands of God; lowly; waek; modest. God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Jas. iv.
Additional senses
- 2.She should be humble who would please. Prior. Without a humble imitation of the divine Author of our . . . religion we can never hope to be a happy nation. Washington. Humble plant (Bot.), a species of sensitive plant, of the genus Mimosa (M. sensitiva). -- To eat humble pie, to endure mortification; to submit or apologize abjectly; to yield passively to insult or humilitation; -- a phrase derived from a pie made of the entrails or humbles of a deer, which was formerly served to servants and retainers at a hunting feast. See Humbles. Halliwell. Thackeray.
- 3.Hornless. See Hummel. [Scot.]
- 4.To bring low; to reduce the power, independence, or exaltation of; to lower; to abase; to humilate. Here, take this purse, thou whom the heaven's plagues Have humbled to all strokes. Shak. The genius which humbled six marshals of France. Macaulay.
- 5.To make humble or lowly in mind; to abase the pride or arrogance of; to reduce the self-sufficiently of; to make meek and submissive; -- often used rexlexively. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you. 1 Pet. v.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
- Canonical URL: https://worddirectanswers.com/answers/what-does-humble-mean
- Steward: Jason Burns
- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00