ignoble


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ig·no·ble

 (ĭg-nō′bəl)
adj.
1. Not noble in quality, character, or purpose; base or dishonorable. See Synonyms at base2.
2. Not of high social status; common.

[Middle English, of low birth, from Old French, from Latin ignōbilis : i-, in-, not; see in-1 + nōbilis, gnōbilis, noble; see noble.]

ig′no·bil′i·ty (-bĭl′ĭ-tē), ig·no′ble·ness n.
ig·no′bly adv.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ignoble

(ɪɡˈnəʊbəl)
adj
1. dishonourable; base; despicable
2. of low birth or origins; humble; common
3. of low quality; inferior
4. (Falconry) falconry
a. designating short-winged hawks that capture their quarry by swiftness and adroitness of flight. Compare noble7
b. designating quarry which is inferior or unworthy of pursuit by a particular species of hawk or falcon
[C16: from Latin ignōbilis, from in-1 + Old Latin gnōbilis noble]
ˌignoˈbility, igˈnobleness n
igˈnobly adv
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ig•no•ble

(ɪgˈnoʊ bəl)

adj.
1. of low character; mean; base: ignoble purposes.
2. of humble descent or rank.
[1400–50; late Middle English < Latin ignōbilis unknown, inglorious =in- in-3 + Old Latin gnōbilis (Latin nōbilis) noble]
ig`no•bil′i•ty, ig•no′ble•ness, n.
ig•no′bly, adv.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.ignoble - completely lacking nobility in character or quality or purpose; "something cowardly and ignoble in his attitude"; "I think it a less evil that some criminals should escape than that the government should play an ignoble part"- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
cowardly, fearful - lacking courage; ignobly timid and faint-hearted; "cowardly dogs, ye will not aid me then"- P.B.Shelley
contemptible - deserving of contempt or scorn
dishonorable, dishonourable - lacking honor or integrity; deserving dishonor; "dishonorable in thought and deed"
noble - having or showing or indicative of high or elevated character; "a noble spirit"; "noble deeds"
2.ignoble - not of the nobilityignoble - not of the nobility; "of ignoble (or ungentle) birth"; "untitled civilians"
lowborn - of humble birth or origins; "a topsy-turvy society of lowborn rich and blue-blooded poor"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

ignoble

adjective
2. lowly, mean, low, base, common, peasant, vulgar, plebeian, humble, lowborn (rare), baseborn (archaic) They wanted to spare him the shame of an ignoble birth.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

ignoble

adjective
1. Having or proceeding from low moral standards:
2. Lacking high station or birth:
Archaic: base.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
دَنيء، خَسيس
nečestný
lavuværdigvanærende
gemeinignobel
auvirîilegur, fyrirlitlegur; ógeîslegur
niekingumas
nekrietnszemisks
alçakşerefsiz

ignoble

[ɪgˈnəʊbl] ADJ (frm) → innoble, vil
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

ignoble

[ɪgˈnəʊbəl] adjignoble, indigne
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

ignoble

[ɪgˈnəʊbl] adjignobile
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

ignoble

(igˈnoubl) adjective
shameful. an ignoble action.
igˈnobleness noun
igˈnobly adverb
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
As a consequence, the Northern and North-western upper levels have been practically abandoned, and the high fliers have returned to the ignoble security of the Three, Five, and Six hundred foot levels.
Those who express sentiments like these, shew only that they distinguish the slave and the freeman, the noble and the ignoble from each other by their virtues and their [1255b] vices; for they think it reasonable, that as a man begets a man, and a beast a beast, so from a good man, a good man should be descended; and this is what nature desires to do, but frequently cannot accomplish it.
Noble, then, is the bond which links together sight and visibility, and great beyond other bonds by no small difference of nature; for light is their bond, and light is no ignoble thing?
Objects which in themselves we view with pain, we delight to contemplate when reproduced with minute fidelity: such as the forms of the most ignoble animals and of dead bodies.
They that deny a God, destroy man's nobility; for certainly man is of kin to the beasts, by his body; and, if he be not of kin to God, by his spirit, he is a base and ignoble creature.
There remains to-day but a very imperceptible vestige of the Place de Grève, such as it existed then; it consists in the charming little turret, which occupies the angle north of the Place, and which, already enshrouded in the ignoble plaster which fills with paste the delicate lines of its sculpture, would soon have disappeared, perhaps submerged by that flood of new houses which so rapidly devours all the ancient façades of Paris.
It finds ignoble occupation as a gaping-ground for the vacuous tourist,--somewhat as Heine might have imagined Pan carrying the gentleman's luggage from the coach to the hotel.
Cranmer-Byng, like many cross-cultural scholars, seems to have fallen into the trap of seeing only noble things afar, and only ignoble things at hand.
It is the studio light by which he paints and still sees to hope, despite all the disappointments of his not ignoble ambitions.
Down below where he lived was the ignoble, and he wanted to purge himself of the ignoble that had soiled all his days, and to rise to that sublimated realm where dwelt the upper classes.
I, for instance, would not be in the least surprised if all of a sudden, a propos of nothing, in the midst of general prosperity a gentleman with an ignoble, or rather with a reactionary and ironical, countenance were to arise and, putting his arms akimbo, say to us all: "I say, gentleman, hadn't we better kick over the whole show and scatter rationalism to the winds, simply to send these logarithms to the devil, and to enable us to live once more at our own sweet foolish will!" That again would not matter, but what is annoying is that he would be sure to find followers--such is the nature of man.
Jellyby was understood to suffer great mortification from her daughter's ignoble marriage and pursuits, but I hope she got over it in time.