# Can you really be 'humbled' by winning an award?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-be-humbled-by-winning-an-award/541070>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [May 28, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-be-humbled-by-winning-an-award/541070 "2010-05-28T14:29:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-be-humbled-by-winning-an-award/541070/21 "2010-05-28T21:08:26Z")

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This drives me crazy, too. The word they want is “honored.” They feel humble in the face of an honor of which they do not think they are worthy. Being humble is not the same as being humbled.

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**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-be-humbled-by-winning-an-award/541070/22 "2010-05-28T23:11:08Z")

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> [@Silvorange](#):
>
> This drives me crazy, too. The word they want is “honored.”

No, that’s not the same thing.

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**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-be-humbled-by-winning-an-award/541070/23 "2010-05-28T23:43:59Z")

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> [@jsgoddess](#):
>
> No, that’s not the same thing.

How so?

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**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-be-humbled-by-winning-an-award/541070/24 "2010-05-28T23:57:42Z")

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> [@Silvorange](#):
>
> How so?

Because it’s humbling. I’m not using the wrong word.

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**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-be-humbled-by-winning-an-award/541070/25 "2010-05-29T21:12:15Z")

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> [@jsgoddess](#):
>
> Because it’s humbling. I’m not using the wrong word.

It’s not the way I would phrase it, but I understand the intent just as well. The words “humble” and “honor” both have long dictionary entries. I can see how someone would interpret them differently than I do.

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**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\
**Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-be-humbled-by-winning-an-award/541070/26 "2010-05-30T12:21:44Z")

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To me, being honored is more about a feeling of sorta surprise and gratitude. It’s as if you say to yourself “Really? I actually deserve this?” Being humbled is more like a feeling of not feeling you actually deserve it. I’d say a really intense version of this feeling was given by Oskar Schindler, at least as presented in Schindler’s List.

That said, when stars use 'humbled", I think they are usually being self-effacing. They do believe they deserve it, but don’t want to come off as too haughty By being modest, they actually are liked even more.

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