MORTIFY

v. 1 humiliate, shame, humble, embarrass, abash, chagrin, rebuff, crush, discomfit, deflate, bring down, degrade, downgrade, reduce, chasten, subdue, suppress, make someone eat humble pie, teach someone his or her place, Colloq put down She was mortified to learn that she had been disqualified 2 punish, castigate, discipline, control, subdue, subjugate Repentance was considered insufficient penance, so the flagellants mortified the flesh with scourges 3 gangrene, fester, necrose, putrefy, rot, decompose, decay, putresce After a fortnight, the flesh mortifies and falls away