Meaning & use
mortifying
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivecomparable
So embarrassing that it makes you want to disappear, because it damages your pride or public image.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after a linking verb: a mortifying mistake, or The mistake was mortifying.
Patterns
- it is mortifying to do something
- a mortifying experience
It was mortifying to realize I had been talking with spinach in my teeth all afternoon.
Her voice cracked in the middle of the solo, a mortifying moment she still remembers.
The teacher read my diary entry aloud, which was absolutely mortifying.
Word forms
| comparative | more mortifying |
|---|---|
| superlative | most mortifying |
Common combinations
- a mortifying experience
- Forgetting my own phone number at the bank was a mortifying experience.
- absolutely mortifying
- Getting caught singing in the shower by the neighbors was absolutely mortifying.
- mortifying mistake
- Sending the angry email to the whole company was a mortifying mistake.
- mortifying silence
- After my joke fell flat, a mortifying silence filled the room.
- find something mortifying
- Many teenagers find family photos mortifying.
Synonyms and how they differ
- humiliating
- Humiliating stresses being made to look small or foolish, often by others, while mortifying focuses on your own burning shame.
- embarrassing
- Embarrassing is the everyday, milder word; mortifying suggests a far more intense and lasting discomfort.
- cringeworthy
- Cringeworthy is informal and describes things that make onlookers wince, whereas mortifying is about the person who suffers the shame.
- excruciating
- Excruciating can describe any unbearable pain or awkwardness, while mortifying is specifically about damaged pride.
Opposites
Word family
- mortify verb
- to make someone feel deeply ashamed
- mortified adjective
- feeling extremely embarrassed
- mortification noun
- deep shame or humiliation
- mortifyingly adverb
- in a way that causes deep embarrassment
Commonly confused: mortifying or mortified?
mortifying vs mortified
Mortified describes the person who feels the shame (I was mortified), while mortifying describes the thing that causes it (the moment was mortifying).
Practice
Which sentence uses the word correctly?
Choose one answer.
Mortifying describes an event that causes deep embarrassment, so tripping on stage fits. Option 3 needs the -ed form (mortified) for how a person feels.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mortifying”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.