The Collaborative International Dictionary
Mortify \Mor"ti*fy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mortified; p. pr. & vb. n. Mortifying.] [OE. mortifien, F. mortifier, fr. L. mortificare; L. mors, mortis, death + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See Mortal, and -fy.]
To destroy the organic texture and vital functions of; to produce gangrene in.
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To destroy the active powers or essential qualities of; to change by chemical action. [Obs.]
--Chaucer.Quicksilver is mortified with turpentine.
--Bacon.He mortified pearls in vinegar.
--Hakewill. -
To deaden by religious or other discipline, as the carnal affections, bodily appetites, or worldly desires; to bring into subjection; to abase; to humble; as, to mortify the flesh.
With fasting mortified, worn out with tears.
--Harte.Mortify thy learned lust.
--Prior.Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth.
--Col. iii. 5. -
To affect with vexation, chagrin; to depress.
The news of the fatal battle of Worcester, which exceedingly mortified our expectations.
--Evelyn.How often is the ambitious man mortified with the very praises he receives, if they do not rise so high as he thinks they ought!
--Addison. To humiliate deeply, especially by injuring the pride of; to embarrass painfully; to humble; as, the team was mortified to lose by 45 to 0.
Mortifying \Mor"ti*fy`ing\, a.
Tending to mortify; affected by, or having symptoms of, mortification; as, a mortifying wound; mortifying flesh.
Subduing the appetites, desires, etc.; as, mortifying penances.
Tending to humble or abase; humiliating; as, a mortifying repulse.
Wiktionary
Causing mortification; extremely embarrassing. n. mortification; abstinence v
(present participle of mortify English)
WordNet
adj. 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" [syn: embarrassing]
causing awareness of your shortcomings; "golf is a humbling game" [syn: demeaning, humbling, humiliating]
Usage examples of "mortifying".
That I do not call myself blameless is due to my weakness in allowing this mortifying business to continue so long.
Miss Hamilton was completely silent, and to Martyn, humiliated and miserable, the necessary intimacies of her work were particularly mortifying.
As if watching Luciano playing tug-of-war with the bottles of Barolo wasnt humiliating enough, now to be confronted with her own utter lack of skills in the domestic hygiene department was mortifying beyond belief.
She was also keeping the Lenten fast, and in various ways was mortifying the flesh.
In the meantime Wilhelmina was daily and hourly exposed to the mortifying animadversions of her mamma, who, with all the insolence of virtue, incessantly upbraided her with the backslidings of her vicious life, and exhorted her to reformation and repentance.
It was while moving from Sampit towards Snow's Island, that Marion was apprised of this mortifying intelligence.
This was a mortifying declaration to the plaintiff, though he condoled himself with the hope of being a gainer by the loss of his eye, and now the pain was over would have been very sorry to find his sight retrieved.
Then he rubbed a split garlic clove around the cut in his nose, to keep it from mortifying.
He looked downward in mournful gloom at the skeet-shooting range he had ordered built for the officers on his headquarters staff, and he recalled the mortifying afternoon General Dreedle had tongue-lashed him ruthlessly in front of Colonel Korn and Major Danby and ordered him to throw open the range to all the enlisted men and officers on combat duty.
Besides being possessed by my sister’s idea that a mortifying and penitential character ought to be imparted to my diet – besides giving me as much crumb as possible in combination with as little butter, and putting such a quantity of warm water into my milk that it would have been more candid to have left the milk out altogether – his conversation consisted of nothing but arithmetic.
And there was the old Meadows team spirit in the reaction, too, the spirit that was supposed to hold the system together: the notion that the opposition wanted nothing but to win and humiliate, that the object of competition was total victory, with mortifying defeat the only alternative imaginable.
Apart from the heat and the numbers, two of the rescued Trueloves had shockingly neglected and mortifying wounds.