humbled

1. 1
   adjective

   Overcome with humility, feeling awe at another's strength or at one's own weakness.

   Like a seasoned expert who suddenly realizes how much they still don't know.

   Standing at the base of the towering peak, the climbers felt humbled by its sheer scale.

   Humbled by the master's effortless technique, the apprentice practiced even harder.

   Similarawed, chastened, overawed

   Oppositeproud

   Note

   Here the feeling matches the verb behind it: someone humbled has been brought low by another's endurance or by something far larger. That keeps it clear of the objection aimed at the "honored and flattered" use. It can also apply to things, not just people. Gal Koplewitz, writing on Amos Oz in 2019, describes a text "humbled by the reality that it sought to represent." To tell the two apart, ask whether the speaker means humility before strength or gratitude for praise.

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of humble.

   The scandal humbled a once-powerful senator.

   Years of hardship had humbled him by the time we met.

   Note

   One spelling does three jobs: the simple past (the scandal humbled him), the perfect after have, and the passive after be. In the passive, the line between the verb and the adjective of awe blurs, because "he was humbled" can report a defeat or describe a feeling. The verb is often reflexive, as in humbled himself before the court, a construction the adjectives cannot take.

3. 3
   adjective

   Grateful and touched by the support of others; feeling honored or flattered.

   Like an award winner who can barely find the words to thank the crowd.

   I am truly humbled by the trust you have placed in me.

   Accepting the honor, she said she felt humbled by the community's generosity.

   Similarhonored, flattered, touched, grateful, moved

   Note

   Careful writers object to this use because it turns the word inside out. To humble someone is to lower their pride, yet here praise and awards do the humbling. It is common in acceptance speeches and public statements, usually in the pairing "honored and humbled." John Boehner used it in 2014 for the responsibility voters had given his party. In formal writing, "grateful" or "honored" says the same thing without drawing the objection.

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