abasement

/əˈbesmɛnt/

Other forms: abasements

Abasement means humiliation or disgrace. Losing an important football game because of several stupid mistakes might result in abasement for the whole team.

The noun abasement is good for describing the feeling of shame or disgrace that overcomes people who do something embarrassing or dishonorable. A political scandal or huge election loss can result in abasement for an entire party, and tripping and falling in the middle school cafeteria can cause a thirteen year-old's abasement. Abasement and its related verb, abase, come from an Old French root, abaissier, "diminish, or make lower in value or status."

Definitions of abasement

1. noun

   depriving one of self-esteem
   synonyms: humiliation

   types:

   comedown

   decline to a lower status or level

   type of:

   debasement, degradation

   a change to a lower state (a less respected state)
2. noun

   a low or downcast state
   “"each confession brought her into an attitude of abasement"- H.L.Menchken”

   synonyms: abjection, degradation

   types:

   decadence, decadency, degeneracy, degeneration

   the state of being degenerate in mental or moral qualities

   depth

   (usually plural) a low moral state

   type of:

   humiliation

   state of disgrace or loss of self-respect