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noun

Mortification n.

The act of mortifying, or the condition of being mortified; especially:

(a)

(Med.) The death of one part of an animal body, while the rest continues to live; loss of vitality in some part of a living animal; gangrene.

(b)

(Alchem. & Old Chem.) Destruction of active qualities; neutralization. (Obs.)

(c)

Subjection of the passions and appetites, by penance, abstinence, or painful severities inflicted on the body. "The mortification of our lusts has something in it that is troublesome, yet nothing that is unreasonable."

Deep humiliation or shame, from a loss of pride; painful embarassment, usually arising from exposure of a mistake; chagrin; vexation.

That which mortifies; the cause of humiliation, chagrin, or vexation. "It is one of the vexatious mortifications of a studious man to have his thoughts discovered by a tedious visit."

(Scots Law) A gift to some charitable or religious institution; nearly synonymous with mortmain.

Synonyms: Chagrin; vexation; shame. See Chagrin.

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Etymology of 'Mortification'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Mortification" Quotes from Famous Books

... unmoved by the outburst: no flush of mortification stained her cheeks, her lips did not quiver. She stooped to pick ...

— Arsene Lupin • Edgar Jepson

... particular to address him in a civil and condescending way, so as to show him very plainly that I did not deem myself one whit better than he was, that is, taking all things together, and not going into particulars. But to my great surprise and mortification, he in the rudest land of manner laughed aloud in my face, and called me a "Jimmy Dux," though that was not my real name, and he must have known it; and also the "son of a farmer," though as I have previously related, my father was a great merchant and French ...

— Redburn. His First Voyage • Herman Melville

... arrests some gentlemen who have lend to me much funds. Why? Imagine my grief, my mortification! They are suspect of German propaganda! Oh, ...

— The Crimson Tide • Robert W. Chambers

... little astonished by her companion's evident mortification, and said with a smile, "If others speak so in the island, of course I must too; and you say it ...

— Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science - April, 1873, Vol. XI, No. 25. • Various

... of my exordium I had assumed a sitting posture but at her coarse rejoinder I fell back, inexpressibly shocked, and lay staring upon the dark, tingling with mortification that I should have wasted myself in such vain appeal and been thus callously repulsed by one who was no more than an ignorant gipsy-wench, prone to coarse expressions and small larcenies, a creature ...

— Peregrine's Progress • Jeffery Farnol

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