ignominious.

Bringing shame or humiliation through dishonor or conspicuous failure.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• ignominious defeat
• ignominious retreat

On the page

An ignominious defeat ended his campaign.

The ceremony became an ignominious retreat from scrutiny.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary. Forms: Comparative more ignominious; superlative most ignominious where gradation is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.