If you've ever gone an entire day with your fly unzipped, not realizing until after you've given a speech in front of a huge audience, you know what mortification feels like.
Mortification is the feeling of being completely humiliated. The word mortification has its roots in the Latin word for "death," mors. The original meaning of mortification was religious; in Christianity the meaning is "putting your sin to death". In Christian practice, this has varied from denying oneself pleasurable things, like certain foods, to inflicting physical pain on oneself. The religious reason for this kind of mortification is to cause the "death" of sins — or desires — of the body.
1 |
n |
strong feelings of embarrassment
|
2 |
n |
the localized death of living cells (as from infection or the interruption of blood supply)
|
3 |
n |
(Christianity) the act of mortifying the lusts of the flesh by self-denial and privation (especially by bodily pain or discomfort inflicted on yourself)
|