SELF-ABASEMENT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does self-abasement mean? 

• SELF-ABASEMENT (noun)
  The noun SELF-ABASEMENT has 1 sense:

1. voluntary self-punishment in order to atone for some wrongdoing

  Familiarity information: SELF-ABASEMENT used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SELF-ABASEMENT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Voluntary self-punishment in order to atone for some wrongdoing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

penance; self-abasement; self-mortification

Hypernyms ("self-abasement" is a kind of...):

penalisation; penalization; penalty; punishment (the act of punishing)

 Context examples 

I was not so vexed at losing Agnes as I might have been, since it gave me an opportunity of making myself known to Traddles on the stairs, who greeted me with great fervour; while Uriah writhed with such obtrusive satisfaction and self-abasement, that I could gladly have pitched him over the banisters.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)