humble
v.v. to make someone feel less proud or important, often by showing them they are not as good as they thought. In modern slang, it means to embarrass someone who is acting too confident.
v. to lower someone in dignity, importance, or estimation; to cause a person to feel less proud. In contemporary informal usage, it often refers to the act of deflating an individual's ego through a superior performance or a sharp correction.
The champion's loss will humble him.
The young athlete was acting very arrogant until the veteran player managed to humble him during the final match.
While the professor intended to humble the student's intellectual vanity, the harsh public critique instead fostered a sense of resentment that stifled further classroom participation.
The verb is transitive and requires a direct object, typically a person or an abstract noun like 'pride'.
He was humble by the experienceHe was humbled by the experienceWhen used as a verb in the passive voice, it requires the past participle ending '-ed'; learners often confuse the verb form with the adjective 'humble'.