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PlainSpell

humble

hum·ble/ˈhʌmbəl/adjective, noun, verb

humble is spelled H-U-M-B-L-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables (hum·ble). It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, humble means “Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in humble?

Letters6: H-U-M-B-L-E
Syllables2: hum·ble
In writing13 times per million words; the 5,957th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is humble?

Humble appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce humble?

  • US /ˈhʌmbəl/
  • UK /ˈʌmbəl/
  • /ˈhʊmbəl/

Humble has 2 syllables, split hum·ble in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-humble.ogg, En-au-humble.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with humble

Also written: hummel.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with humble?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as humble from its last stressed vowel (/ʌmbəl/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of humble

  • humbler comparative
  • more humble comparative
  • humblest superlative
  • most humble superlative
  • humbles plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • humbling participle, present
  • humbled participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does humble mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming.

    He lives in a humble one-bedroom cottage.

  2. 2

    Having a low position or a low opinion of oneself; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; modest.

noun

  1. 1

    People with a low position or a low opinion of themselves; those who are not proud, arrogant, or assuming.

  2. 2

    slangAn arrest based on weak evidence intended to demean or punish the subject.

  3. 3

    ScotlandAlternative form of hummel.

    humble cattle

verb

  1. 1

    To defeat or reduce the power, independence, or pride of.

  2. 2

    To make humble or lowly; to make less proud or arrogant; to make meek and submissive.

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo hum.

    humbling and bumbling

  4. 4

    Alternative form of hummel.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Humble in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchhumble (thinking lowly of oneself)
Germandemütig, bescheiden (thinking lowly of oneself), demütigen, erniedrigen (to bring low, etc), demütig machen (to make humble or lowly in mind, etc)
Portuguesehumilde (thinking lowly of oneself), humilhar, diminuir (to bring low, etc)
Spanishmodesto, humilde, humildoso (thinking lowly of oneself), humildear (to bring low, etc), humillar, dar una lección de humildad (to make humble or lowly in mind, etc)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does humble come from?

From Middle English humble, from Old French humble, umble, humle, from Latin humilis (“low, slight, hence mean, humble”) (compare Greek χαμηλός (khamēlós, “on the ground, low, trifling”)), from humus (“the earth, ground”), humi (“on the ground”). See homage, and compare chameleon, humiliate. Displaced native Old English ēaþmōd.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after humble