• (RP, America) IPA: /ˈhʌmbl̩/
• (obsolete, RP, Southern US) IPA: /ˈʌmbl̩/

From Middle English humble, from Old French humble, umble, humle, from Latin humilis (compare Greek χαμαλός ("on the ground, low, trifling")), from humus ("the earth, ground"), humi ("on the ground").

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), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, James 4:6 ↗:

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

   • a. 1722 (date written), Matthew Prior, “Cloe Jealous”, in The Poetical Works of Matthew Prior […], volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan, […], published 1779, →OCLC ↗, stanza V, page 109 ↗:

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

• See Thesaurus:humble

• arrogant
• snobby
• presumptuous
• smug

• humbleness
• humiliate
• humiliation
• humility

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

humble (plural humbles)

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

From Middle English humblen, from the adjective above.

humble (humbles, present participle humbling; simple 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 […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [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), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, 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 ↗, 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
• Spanish: humillar

From Middle English *humblen, *humbelen (suggested by humblynge), frequentative of Middle English hummen, equivalent to hum + -le.

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

1. (intransitive, chiefly, obsolete) To hum.

   humbling and bumbling

• humblebee

humble (plural humbles)

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

   humble cattle

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

1. (transitive) Alternative form of hummel.

1. Surname.
2. A place name:
   1. A small town in Langeland, island of.
   2. An ucomm in Russell County, Kentucky.
   3. A city in Harris County, Texas, the former home of Humble Oil.