Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- transitive v. To make noble: "that chastity of honor . . . which ennobled whatever it touched, and under which vice itself lost half its evil” ( Edmund Burke).
- transitive v. To confer nobility upon: ennoble a prime minister for distinguished service.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- v. To bestow with nobility, honour or grace.
- v. To ennoble textile fabrics, the industrial processes of dry-cleaning, printing and embossing, and sizing and finishing, which together are known as 'ennobling fabrics'.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- transitive v. To make noble; to elevate in degree, qualities, or excellence; to dignify.
- transitive v. To raise to the rank of nobility.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To make noble; confer a title of nobility on.
- To dignify; exalt; elevate in degree, excellence, or respect.
- To make notable, famous, or memorable.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- v. confer dignity or honor upon
- v. give a title to someone; make someone a member of the nobility
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Examples
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By thus declaring himself the follower of so fine a craftsman, Dante suggests, he hopes to "ennoble" his own undertaking.
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Cilea's alternately swooning, scintillating and thundering score does much to ennoble the overwrought claptrap of the opera's libretto.
Review: Washington Concert Opera's 'Adriana Lecouvreur' at Lisner Auditorium
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This Parisian early prototype, however, lacked the spicy seasonings that ennoble the classic cocktail we know today.
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They believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to correct and ennoble.
John Shore: Why Pastors Struggle With Confronting Domestic Violence
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He does not reflect much on how a double occupation would complicate and perhaps ennoble resistance.
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Then, we embodying the generosity and engagement that pulsates at the heart of Jewish tradition, this day will truly be a portal to a Shabbat LaShem, a Sabbath of the Lord, and we will be living the kind of covenanted community that can ennoble humanity and all creation.
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The music serves to uplift, beautify, and ennoble some other action taking place, and that action itself holds primacy over the music itself.
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The work will be an output of heroism, and it will ennoble even those who will not know of it.
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Van Dyck's portraits helped to ennoble many of the plutocrats.
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I grew up poor, hated, the victim of physical, emotional, and sexual violence, and I know that suffering does not ennoble.
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