to humiliate
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to humiliate
To deliberately treat someone in a way that violates their dignity and makes them feel worthless or ashamed.
Er fühlte sich durch die öffentlichen Anschuldigungen seines Chefs zutiefst erniedrigt.
He felt deeply humiliated by his boss's public accusations.
to degrade oneself
To behave in a way that lowers one's own dignity and self-respect, often in order to gain an advantage or out of a desperate situation.
Er musste sich erniedrigen und um Geld betteln, um seine Familie zu ernähren.
He had to degrade himself and beg for money in order to feed his family.
The verb is made up of the prefix 'er-' and the adjective 'niedrig' (low). It literally means to 'make someone or oneself low,' that is, to take away dignity. As a verb with the prefix 'er-', it is inseparable.
Er hat seinen Mitarbeiter vor dem ganzen Team erniedrigt.
He humiliated his employee in front of the whole team.
This verb can be used transitively with an accusative object ('jemanden erniedrigen' — to humiliate someone) or reflexively ('sich erniedrigen' — to degrade oneself). The reflexive form emphasizes that the person is lowering their own dignity.
Der Tyrann erniedrigte seine Gefangenen.
The tyrant humiliated his prisoners.
'Erniedrigen' (to humiliate) is often used with adverbs that describe the extent, e.g. 'öffentlich erniedrigen' (to humiliate publicly) or 'zutiefst erniedrigen' (to deeply humiliate). The passive form 'erniedrigt werden' (to be humiliated) is also very common.
Sie fühlte sich durch seine Worte öffentlich erniedrigt.
She felt publicly humiliated by his words.
to shame
Both verbs can express that someone feels shame. „Beschämen“ mainly describes causing this feeling and can also happen unintentionally, whereas „erniedrigen“ emphasizes deliberately violating someone's dignity. Use „beschämen“ for the feeling of shame and „erniedrigen“ for deliberate degradation.
Der Chef wollte den Mitarbeiter vor allen Kollegen erniedrigen.
The boss wanted to humiliate the employee in front of all his colleagues.
Seine bessere Antwort sollte die neue Schülerin nicht beschämen.
His better answer was not meant to shame the new student.
