self-abasement

/'selfə'beismənt/

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Word: Self-Abasement

Definition: Self-abasement is a noun that means the act of lowering oneself in dignity or importance. It often involves feeling or showing that you are not as good as others, sometimes as a way to atone for a mistake or wrongdoing.

Usage Instructions:

• Context: You can use "self-abasement" when discussing feelings of guilt, shame, or when someone is being overly critical of themselves.
• Form: It is a noun, so it can be the subject or object of a sentence.

Example Sentence:

• After making a mistake at work, he felt a sense of self-abasement, believing he didn’t deserve any praise for his efforts.

Advanced Usage:

• In literature, characters might exhibit self-abasement to show their internal struggles or moral dilemmas, reflecting their deep emotional conflict.

Word Variants:

• Self-abased (adjective): Describing someone who has lowered their self-worth.
  • Example: She felt self-abased after receiving criticism for her performance.
• Self-abasing (adjective): Referring to actions or attitudes that show self-abasement.
  • Example: His self-abasing comments made others uncomfortable.

Different Meanings:

• While "self-abasement" typically refers to a negative view of oneself, it can sometimes be used in a religious or spiritual context, where individuals might practice humility as a virtue.

Synonyms:

• Humiliation
• Self-deprecation
• Self-denigration
• Self-disparagement

Idioms:

• "Beating oneself up": This idiom means to criticize oneself harshly for mistakes.
  • Example: After the exam, she spent hours beating herself up over the mistakes she made.

Phrasal Verbs:

• There aren’t specific phrasal verbs that directly correspond to "self-abasement," but phrases like "put oneself down" can convey a similar idea.
  • Example: He tends to put himself down whenever he talks about his achievements.

Conclusion:

Self-abasement is a complex word that relates to feelings of guilt and low self-esteem. It is important to recognize that while humility is valuable, excessive self-abasement can be harmful.

Academic

Noun

1. voluntary self-punishment in order to atone for some wrongdoing

Synonyms

• penance
• self-mortification