Library / English Dictionary

DISGRACE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A state of dishonor

Example:

suffered the ignominy of being sent to prison

Synonyms:

disgrace; ignominy; shame

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("disgrace" is a kind of...):

dishonor; dishonour (a state of shame or disgrace)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "disgrace"):

humiliation (state of disgrace or loss of self-respect)

obloquy; opprobrium (state of disgrace resulting from public abuse)

odium (state of disgrace resulting from detestable behavior)

reproach (disgrace or shame)

Derivation:

disgrace (damage the reputation of)

disgrace (bring shame or dishonor upon)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Damage the reputation of

Example:

This newspaper story discredits the politicians

Synonyms:

discredit; disgrace

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "disgrace" is one way to...):

belittle; disparage; pick at (express a negative opinion of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

disgrace (a state of dishonor)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Reduce in worth or character, usually verbally

Example:

His critics took him down after the lecture

Synonyms:

degrade; demean; disgrace; put down; take down

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "disgrace" is one way to...):

abase; chagrin; humble; humiliate; mortify (cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "disgrace"):

reduce (lower in grade or rank or force somebody into an undignified situation)

dehumanise; dehumanize (deprive of human qualities)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Bring shame or dishonor upon

Example:

he dishonored his family by committing a serious crime

Synonyms:

attaint; disgrace; dishonor; dishonour; shame

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "disgrace"):

befoul; defile; foul; maculate (spot, stain, or pollute)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

The performance is likely to disgrace Sue

Derivation:

disgrace (a state of dishonor)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Time after time he was ordered below in disgrace.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

But the feelings which made such composure a disgrace, left her in no danger of incurring it.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

“I thought it was madness,” he said, as he replaced the obnoxious paper in the safe, “and now I begin to fear it is disgrace.”

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I said nothing of my reasons for doing so, for I found that I could not bring myself to confess our disgrace to you.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I was spared the disgrace of appearing publicly as a criminal, as the case was not brought before the court that decides on life and death.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Would he cast him off in disgrace, or might he chide him as having abused the shelter of his roof?

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But my affair is widely different; I bring back my heroine to her home in solitude and disgrace; and no sweet elation of spirits can lead me into minuteness.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

But it was the multiplicity of laws that befuddled White Fang and often brought him into disgrace.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

They all appeared with dejected looks, and in the meanest habit; most of them telling me, “they died in poverty and disgrace, and the rest on a scaffold or a gibbet.”

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

As a flash of lightning in the night shows up in an instant every detail of a wild landscape, so at one glance I seemed to see every possible result of such an action—the detection, the capture, the honoured career ending in irreparable failure and disgrace, my friend himself lying at the mercy of the odious Milverton.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)