• (RP, GA) IPA: /ˈhʌmbəl/
• (obsolete, RP) IPA: /ˈʌmbəl/

humble (comparative humbler, superlative humblest)

1. Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming.

   He lives in a humble one-bedroom cottage.

   • 17th century, Abraham Cowley, The Shortness of Life and Uncertainty of Riches

     The wise example of the heavenly lark.
     Thy fellow poet, Cowley, mark,
     Above the clouds let thy proud music sound,
     Thy humble nest build on the ground.

2. Having a low opinion of oneself; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; modest.

   Synonyms: unassuming, modest

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, James 4:6 ↗:

     But he giueth more grace, wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proude, but giueth grace vnto the humble.

   • a. 1722, Matthew Prior, “Cloe Jealous”, in The Poetical Works of Matthew Prior: […], in Two Volumes, volume I, London: Printed for W[illiam] Strahan, […], published 1779, OCLC 491256769 ↗, stanza V, page 109 ↗:

     She ſhould be humble, who would pleaſe;
       And ſhe muſt ſuffer, who can love.

3. Near the ground.
   • 1952, E. B. White, Charlotte's Web, Harper Brothers:

     "Humble?" said Charlotte. "'Humble' has two meanings. It means 'not proud' and it means 'near the ground.' That's Wilbur all over. He's not proud and he's near the ground.

• See Thesaurus:humble

• humbleness
• humiliate
• humiliation
• humility

• German: einfach, bescheiden
• Italian: umile, modesto, terra terra
• Portuguese: humilde
• Russian: ни́зкий
• Spanish: humilde

• French: humble
• German: demütig, bescheiden
• Italian: umile, modesto
• Portuguese: humilde
• Russian: скро́мный
• Spanish: modesto, humilde

humble (humbles, present participle humbling; past and past participle humbled)

1. (ambitransitive) To defeat or reduce the power, independence, or pride of
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act IV, scene i]:

     Here, take this purse, thou whom the heaven's plagues have humbled to all strokes.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, 1 Peter 5:6 ↗:

     Humble yourselues therefore vnder the mighty hand of God, that hee may exalt you in due time,

   • 1851, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XI, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume III, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, OCLC 1069526323 ↗, pages 68–69 ↗:

     But, after the death of the master, the servant proved himself capable of supplying with eminent ability the master's place, and was renowned throughout Europe as one of the great Triumvirate which humbled the pride of Lewis the Fourteenth.

2. (transitive, often, reflexive) To make humble or lowly; to make less proud or arrogant; to make meek and submissive.

• abase, lower, depress, humiliate, mortify, disgrace, degrade

• German: demütigen, erniedrigen
• Italian: sminuire
• Portuguese: humilhar, diminuir

• German: erniedrigen, demütig machen

humble (plural humbles)

1. (Baltimore, slang) An arrest based on weak evidence intended to demean or punish the subject.

humble (plural humbles)

1. (Northern England, Scotland, also attributive) Alternative form of hummel.

   humble cattle

humble (humbles, present participle humbling; past and past participle humbled)

1. (transitive) Alternative form of hummel.

1. Surname