# ignoble

Pronunciation: say "ig-NOH-buhl" US /ɪɡˈnoʊbəl/, UK /ɪɡˈnəʊbəl/

## Adjective

1. Lacking honor; morally low or contemptible.
   - Simple: Shameful and without honor.
   - _Investigators suspected ignoble motives behind the sudden donation._
   - _The senator's ignoble attempt to blame his own staff fooled no one._
2. Of common birth or rank; not belonging to the nobility.
   - Simple: Born into an ordinary family, not a noble one.
   - _Despite his ignoble birth, he rose to command the king's army._
   - _The old families at court looked down on her ignoble origins._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To make someone or something ignoble; to bring low.
- (adjective) Of certain hawks, such as the goshawk: not ranked as a true or "noble" falcon.

## Origin

Latin ignōbilis joined in- ("not") to gnōbilis, the earlier form of nōbilis ("noble"). Middle French turned it into ignoble, and English borrowed the word from there.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/ignoble (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).