Find the word definition

Crossword clues for dishonor

The Collaborative International Dictionary
Dishonor

Dishonor \Dis*hon"or\ (d[i^]s*[o^]n"[~e]r or d[i^]z*[o^]n"[~e]r), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dishonored (d[i^]s*[o^]n"[~e]rd or d[i^]z*[o^]n"[~e]rd); p. pr. & vb. n. Dishonoring.] [OE. deshonouren, F. d['e]shonorer; pref. d['e]s- (L. dis-) + honorer to honor, fr. L. honorare. See Honor, v. t.] [Written also dishonour.]

  1. To deprive of honor; to disgrace; to bring reproach or shame on; to treat with indignity, or as unworthy in the sight of others; to stain the character of; to lessen the reputation of; as, the duelist dishonors himself to maintain his honor.

    Nothing . . . that may dishonor Our law, or stain my vow of Nazarite.
    --Milton.

  2. To violate the chastity of; to debauch.
    --Dryden.

  3. To refuse or decline to accept or pay; -- said of a bill, check, note, or draft which is due or presented; as, to dishonor a bill exchange.

    Syn: To disgrace; shame; debase; degrade; lower; humble; humiliate; debauch; pollute.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
dishonor

mid-13c., from Old French deshonorer (12c.), from Late Latin dishonorare (reformed from classical Latin dehonestare), from dis- "opposite of" (see dis-) + honorare (see honor). Related: Dishonored; dishonoring.

dishonor

c.1300, from Old French deshonor (12c.); see dishonor (v.).

Wiktionary
dishonor

n. (standard spelling of dishonour from=US English) vb. (standard spelling of dishonour from=US English)

WordNet
dishonor
  1. n. a state of shame or disgrace; "he was resigned to a life of dishonor" [syn: dishonour] [ant: honor]

  2. lacking honor or integrity [syn: dishonour] [ant: honor]

  3. v. bring shame or dishonor upon; "he dishonored his family by committing a serious crime" [syn: disgrace, dishonour, attaint, shame] [ant: honor]

  4. force (someone) to have sex against their will; "The woman was raped on her way home at night" [syn: rape, ravish, violate, assault, dishonour, outrage]

  5. refuse to accept; "dishonor checks and drafts" [syn: dishonour] [ant: honor]

Usage examples of "dishonor".

And everyone knows the story of Achilles and Penthesilea: how that hero of the Trojan War, after besting and slaying that Queen of the Amazons, further dishonored her by having sexual intercourse with her corpse.

The former was seduced, and this man had employed his skill in chirographical imitation, in composing letters from Miss Dudley to his brother, which sufficiently attested her dishonor.

God chooses to place them in positions in which they can rob, and torment, and dishonor us, and so incite us to labor more zealously for the Christianization of our country.

At the left hung his sword, a beautiful blade of the best steel with the handguard worked in the form of a dragon, and at the right, the silver dagger that branded him as a dishonored man.

Then he begged him earnestly to press Tirant to remember him and to have compassion on his old age, and on all the people who were in danger of renouncing the faith of Jesus Christ, and on the women and maidens who lived in fear of being dishonored unless they had divine aid and his aid as well.

The problem in each case was that the captains of Navarrese garrisons, who might be charged with treason to their Prince or dishonored if they surrendered without making a defense, had not the same motive to yield as the citizens.

After the failure of the Theodosian line, the choice of Pulcheria and of the senate might be justified in some measure by the characters of Martin and Leo, but the latter of these princes confirmed and dishonored his reign by the perfidious murder of Aspar and his sons, who too rigorously exacted the debt of gratitude and obedience.

Thirdly, that all excuse be removed from those virgins who, through want of caution, fall into dishonor.

The blood mounted to the temples of Debray, who held a million in his pocket-book, and unimaginative as he was he could not help reflecting that the same house had contained two women, one of whom, justly dishonored, had left it poor with 1,500,000 francs under her cloak, while the other, unjustly stricken, but sublime in her misfortune, was yet rich with a few deniers.

He had come to believe, partly from practice, partly from theory, that twenty blows with a baton on the rump are not dishonoring.

I avoided the gibbet which, however, should not have dishonored me as I should only have been hung.

On any urban campus the nonstudent is an old and dishonored tradition.

Christendom, returning bedraggled, besmirched, and dishonored from pirate raids in Kiao-Chou, Manchuria, South Africa, and the Philippines, with her soul full of meanness, her pocket full of boodle, and her mouth full of pious hypocrisies.

And with all respect, I find it hard to believe that these rival sisterhoods, or whatever they are, will behave like some old legendary dictator or brainwashing expert and offer them a choice between death or dishonor.

Over a warm Indian summer weekend, my father and dishonored grandfather carried furniture outside for the yard sale, the sea-foam-green sofa and armchairs, which still looked brand-new beneath plastic slipcovers, the kitchen table, the bookcases.