indignation

UK/ˌɪn.dɪɡˈneɪ.ʃən/US/ˌɪn.dɪɡˈneɪ.ʃən/

nounC1Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #10,761 of 15,258neutral

Indignation is anger at something you believe is unjust. Not simple temper — offence taken on principle.

The sense of unfairness is essential, and it is what makes indignation feel righteous to the person having it. It takes at. The standard phrase is righteous indignation, which is nearly always used with a raised eyebrow, since the writer usually thinks the outrage is being enjoyed. Newspapers manufacture it for a living. The adjective indignant describes the person, and an indignity is the humiliation that causes it.

Definitions of indignation

1nounindignationAnger at treatment felt to be unjust.C1
“There was general indignation at the decision.”

Where it comes from

Indignation is the sense that a thing is unworthy. Latin indignus is in, not, plus dignus, worthy, so indignation is anger at what does not deserve to have happened.

Latin
indignātiō
Old French
indignation
Middle English
indignacioun
English, today
indignation

Built from

indignor · Latin — to scorn, resent
indignus · Latin — unworthy, not fitting
in- · Latin — not
dignus · Latin — worthy, appropriate

From Middle English indignacioun, borrowed from Old French indignation, from Latin indignātiō, from indignor (“to scorn, resent”), from indignus (“unworthy, not fitting”), from in- (“not”) + dignus (“worthy, appropriate”). Attested since ca. 1374. a doublet of indignatio.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 6 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

indignation in the wild

The Standard Dictionary describes indignation as a "feeling involving anger mingled with contempt or disgust".
Indignation
The feeling of indignation can occur when one is mistreated by another or negative feelings are sparked when a situation is out of the normal realm of society.
Indignation
Leading German newspapers expressed disappointment and indignation with the lack of political evolution among the Danish voters.
1943 Danish Folketing election
The poem explores themes of indignation, revenge and, more generally, the fallen state of mankind.
A Poison Tree
After the elections, leading German newspapers expressed disappointment and indignation with the lack of political evolution among the Danish voters.
1943 Danish Landsting election

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

From Project Gutenberg, public domain. These sentences are from real books, shown to illustrate the word at work.

Related words

the dignus family

dignity

indignation — used about once every 7,127 pages · #10,761 · point at the bar for the others

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