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MORTIFICATION
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(Christianity) the act of mortifying the lusts of the flesh by self-denial and privation (especially by bodily pain or discomfort inflicted on yourself)
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("mortification" is a kind of...):
self-control; self-denial; self-discipline (the act of denying yourself; controlling your impulses)
Domain category:
Christian religion; Christianity (a monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament and emphasizing the role of Jesus as savior)
Derivation:
mortify (hold within limits and control)
mortify (practice self-denial of one's body and appetites)
Sense 2
Meaning:
An instance in which you are caused to lose your prestige or self-respect
Example:
he had to undergo one humiliation after another
Synonyms:
humiliation; mortification
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("mortification" is a kind of...):
case; example; instance (an occurrence of something)
Derivation:
mortify (cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Strong feelings of embarrassment
Synonyms:
chagrin; humiliation; mortification
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Hypernyms ("mortification" is a kind of...):
embarrassment (the shame you feel when your inadequacy or guilt is made public)
Derivation:
mortify (cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of)
Sense 4
Meaning:
The localized death of living cells (as from infection or the interruption of blood supply)
Synonyms:
gangrene; mortification; necrosis; sphacelus
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural phenomena
Hypernyms ("mortification" is a kind of...):
death (the permanent end of all life functions in an organism or part of an organism)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mortification"):
myonecrosis (localized death of muscle cell fibers)
Derivation:
mortify (undergo necrosis)
Context examples:
This indeed would be too great a mortification, if I wrote for fame: but as my sole intention was the public good, I cannot be altogether disappointed.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
Holmes was grey with anger and mortification.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
At first I started back, unable to believe that it was indeed I who was reflected in the mirror; and when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
I knew by her stony eye—opaque to tenderness, indissoluble to tears—that she was resolved to consider me bad to the last; because to believe me good would give her no generous pleasure: only a sense of mortification.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
“Thank you,” said he, in an accent of deep mortification, and not another syllable followed.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
Anne fully submitted, in silent, deep mortification.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
Catherine, with a blush of mortification, left the house.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
I tried both ways, and when it came to a sniff or utter mortification and woe, he just threw the grammar on to the floor and marched out of the room.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Again his astonishment was obvious; and he looked at her with an expression of mingled incredulity and mortification.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Neither shall I disown, that in speaking I am apt to fall into the voice and manner of the Houyhnhnms, and hear myself ridiculed on that account, without the least mortification.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
