mortifying

1. 1.

   causing to feel shame or chagrin or vexation

   “the embarrassing moment when she found her petticoat down around her ankles”

   “it was mortifying to know he had heard every word”

   Synonymsembarrassing

   Similarunpleasant
2. 2.

   causing awareness of your shortcomings

   “golf is a humbling game”

   Synonymsdemeaninghumblinghumiliating

   Similarundignified

Questions about mortifying

What does mortifying mean?

mortifying means "causing to feel shame or chagrin or vexation". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in mortifying?

mortifying has 3 syllables: mor-ti-fying. The stress falls on "mor".

What is another word for mortifying?

Close synonyms include embarrassing, demeaning, humbling, humiliating. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is mortifying a common word?

mortifying is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.