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Paul Cantrell

I am immensely puzzled by the (recent, I think?) usage of “humbled.” The word means, according to my dictionary, “lowered in dignity or importance.” But people use it to mean the •opposite• of humbled, e.g. “I am humbled to receive this prize.”

I don’t think that means the prize is so awful that receiving it is degrading?? Instead, the word appears to mean “honored, but with a magic incantation that makes me not arrogant.” Is that all that’s going on here? Is there semantic nuance I’m missing?