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mortify
[mawr-tuh-fahy]
verb (used with object)
to humiliate or shame, as by injury to one's pride or self-respect.
Synonyms: ,to subjugate (the body, passions, etc.) by abstinence, ascetic discipline, or self-inflicted suffering.
Synonyms: ,Pathology.to affect with gangrene or necrosis.
verb (used without object)
to practice mortification or disciplinary austerities.
Pathology.to undergo mortification; become gangrened or necrosed.
mortify
/ ˈɔːɪˌڲɪ /
verb
(tr) to humiliate or cause to feel shame
(tr) Christianity to subdue and bring under control by self-denial, disciplinary exercises, etc
(intr) to undergo tissue death or become gangrenous
Other Word Forms
- mortifier noun
- mortifyingly adverb
- premortify verb (used with object)
- ˈǰپˌڲ⾱Բ adjective
- ˈǰپˌھ noun
- ˈǰپˌڲ⾱Բly adverb
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of mortify1
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
“Because that was also something with Mary Beth, too. When we were talking about that song, she’s like, ‘I feel this in my bones, maybe in a good and a really mortifying way.’
They’ve all suffered mortifying, exhausting breakups on camera, and at this resort, they use the insights learned from those mutual train wrecks to steer each other in the right direction.
Like the rest of us, she has probably found herself closing an app, only to have the mortifying reflex to open the very same app one second later.
She said: "I was mortified, I was embarrassed, I started crying. But he was really supportive and kind."
At the time, Kaur, 52, described the incident as "unimaginably mortifying" in a post on X.
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When To Use
Mortify means to humiliate or embarrass in an extreme way.You know when you do something so unbearably embarrassing that you just want to shrivel up and die? That’s what it’s like to feel mortified. Which is fitting because the word comes from a root meaning “death.”Things that are humiliating or extremely embarrassing can be described as mortifying. This feeling of humiliation or extreme embarrassment can be called mortification.Mortify can also be used in a way that relates to literal death. In medical terms, to mortify is to undergo mortification—the death of one part of the body while the rest of the body is alive. This is more technically called gangrene or necrosis.Mortify is also used (less commonly) in a religious context, in which it means to practice ascetic self-discipline with the goal of strengthening one’s will and overcoming the desire to sin. In Christianity, forms of mortification include things like fasting. In some extreme cases, especially in older times, it has included things like self-flagellation—whipping oneself.Example: Even when I do my best not to embarrass my kids, I still end up mortifying them on most occasions.
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