self-abasement
/'selfə'beismənt/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- Voluntary self-punishment in order to atone for some wrongdoing: The act of deliberately humiliating, degrading, or punishing oneself, often as a form of penance or to express remorse.
- The act of lowering or humbling oneself: A conscious effort to diminish one's own dignity, status, or pride.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- His public confession and self-abasement were an attempt to seek forgiveness for his mistakes.
- In some religious practices, acts of self-abasement are seen as a path to spiritual purification.
- She felt that constant self-abasement was not healthy and decided to practice self-compassion instead.
Advanced Usage
- "To engage in self-abasement": To actively participate in acts of humiliating oneself.
- After the scandal, the politician engaged in public self-abasement to salvage his career.
- "A gesture of self-abasement": A specific action intended to show humility or penitence.
- Bowing so low before the crowd was seen as a profound gesture of self-abasement.
Variants and Related Words
- Abase (verb): To behave in a way that belittles or degrades oneself.
- He refused to abase himself before his critics.
- Self-abasing (adjective): Characterized by or involving self-humiliation.
- Her self-abasing apology made everyone uncomfortable.
- Self-flagellation (noun): A more specific term for severe self-punishment, often literal, but can be used metaphorically similarly to self-abasement.
- His constant self-criticism bordered on emotional self-flagellation.
Synonyms
- Self-humiliation: The act of humiliating oneself.
- Mortification: The feeling of shame or humiliation, or a practice of subduing bodily desires (often in a religious context).
- Penitence: The action of feeling or showing sorrow and regret for having done wrong; can involve self-abasement.
Antonyms
- Self-respect: Pride and confidence in oneself.
- Self-assertion: The confident and forceful expression or promotion of oneself.
- Pride: A feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements.
Related Idioms and Phrases
- "To eat humble pie": To make a humble apology and accept humiliation. This idiom relates to the concept of self-abasement.
- After his error was exposed, he had to eat humble pie.
- "To grovel": To act in an obsequious way to obtain forgiveness or favor, which can be a form of self-abasement.
- He groveled at her feet, begging for another chance.
Noun
- voluntary self-punishment in order to atone for some wrongdoing