mortify
To discipline by suppressing desiresTo discipline (one's body, appetites etc.) by suppressing desires; to practise abstinence on.
» Tom said that he was mortified.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
12 senses(transitive)To discipline (one's body, appetites etc.) by suppressing desires; to practise abstinence on.
Some people seek sainthood by mortifying the body.
abtöten
practice self-denial of one's body and appetites
(transitive, usually)To injure the dignity of; to embarrass; to humiliate.
I was so mortified I could have died right there; instead I fainted, but I swore I'd never let that happen to me again.
(transitive)To affect with vexation or chagrin.
He seemed to enjoy mortifying them with news of every fresh hell loosed in the capital.
22 September 1651 (date in diary), 1818 (first published), John Evelyn, John Evelyn's Diary the news of the fatal battle of Worcester, which exceedingly mortified our expectations
(transitive)To scare.
Near-synonym: petrify
Please don't mortify your mother by telling her what a stupidly dangerous thing you did last night.
(historical, transitive)To grant in mortmain.
(intransitive)To lose vitality.
(intransitive)To be subdued.
(obsolete, transitive)To kill.
töten, abtöten
(obsolete, transitive)To reduce the potency of; to nullify; to deaden, neutralize.
(obsolete, transitive)To humble; to depress.
(archaic, transitive)To kill off (living tissue etc.); to make necrotic.
(archaic, intransitive)To gangrene.
Examples
28 sentencesTranslations
3 languagesBy meaning 2
Origin
From Anglo-Norman mortifier, Middle French mortifier, from Late Latin mortificō (“cause deFrom Anglo-Norman mortifier, Middle French mortifier, from Late Latin mortificō (“cause death”), from Latin mors (“death”) + -ficō (“-fy”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
mortifies, mortifying, mortified, mortifiedSynonyms
148 synonymsAntonyms
2 antonymsWord family
1 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.