Meaning & use
dishonor or dishonour
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Meanings
noununcountable
the state of having lost other people's respect because of something bad you did
Grammar: Usually uncountable, so it takes no plural and no 'a'; say 'a sense of dishonor' rather than 'a dishonor'.
Patterns
- bring dishonor on someone
- in dishonor
- a life of dishonor
He chose to resign rather than bring dishonor on his family.
The scandal left the company in complete dishonor.
nouncountable
something that causes you to lose people's respect or that damages your reputation
Grammar: Countable here: you can talk about one dishonor or several dishonors, though the plural is rare.
Patterns
- be a dishonor to someone
- such a dishonor
Losing the match was no dishonor; cheating would have been.
His behavior was a dishonor to the whole team.
verbtransitiveformal
to treat someone or something in a way that shows a lack of respect
Grammar: Takes an object: dishonor someone or something.
Patterns
- dishonor someone
- dishonor something
They felt he had dishonored the memory of his teacher.
To break such a promise would dishonor the agreement.
Word forms
| third person singular | dishonors |
|---|---|
| past tense | dishonored |
| past participle | dishonored |
| -ing form | dishonoring |
Common combinations
- bring dishonor on
- He would never do anything to bring dishonor on his school.
- a mark of dishonor
- In some cultures, failing to greet a guest is seen as a mark of dishonor.
- dishonor a promise
- She dishonored her promise to help, and everyone noticed.
- dishonor the dead
- Vandals dishonored the dead by damaging the memorial.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shame
- Shame is a strong feeling of guilt or embarrassment, often private; dishonor is more about public loss of respect.
- disgrace
- Disgrace is stronger and more final, suggesting you have lost all respect; dishonor can be temporary.
- humiliation
- Humiliation focuses on the painful feeling of being made to look small; dishonor focuses on the damaged reputation.
Opposites
Word family
- dishonorable adjective
- not deserving respect; behaving in a morally wrong way
- dishonorably adverb
- in a way that lacks honor or respect
- dishonored adjective
- having lost respect or been treated without respect
Commonly confused: dishonor or dishonour or dishonesty?
dishonor or dishonour vs dishonesty
Dishonesty means the habit of lying or cheating, while dishonor is about losing respect because of what you did.
Practice
Which sentence uses the correct American spelling?
Choose one answer.
American English prefers 'dishonored' without the 'u'. The British spelling 'dishonoured' is correct in the UK but not standard in the US; the other options are misspellings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dishonor or dishonour”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.