adj, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To make ignoble; to bring low.

Adjective

1. 1
   Not noble; plebeian; common.

   "I was not ignoble of descent."

2. 2
   Not honorable; base.

   "A base, ignoble mind, / That mounts no higher than a bird can soar."

3. 3
   Not a true or "noble" falcon; said of certain hawks, such as the goshawk.
4. 4
   Of an element, dangerously reactive.

Adjective

1. 1
   completely lacking nobility in character or quality or purpose wordnet
2. 2
   not of the nobility wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

commoncontemptibleinfamouslowmeanpeasant

Antonyms

All antonyms

honorableloftynoble

Example

More examples

"The noble man leaves out of his sense of nobility, while the ignoble man says "He was afraid of me.""

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French ignoble, from Latin ignōbilis, from in- (“not”) + gnōbilis, later nōbilis (“noble”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.