stigma

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
9
Words With Friends
11
Letters
6
Pronunciation
/ˈstɪɡmə/

Definition of stigma

10 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. An indication of infamy or disgrace.
    “But to have as an enforced dining companion a man who was probably a Papist, certainly a rake, and bore the stigma of cowardice, was anathema.”
See all 10 definitions

noun

  1. An indication of infamy or disgrace.
    “But to have as an enforced dining companion a man who was probably a Papist, certainly a rake, and bore the stigma of cowardice, was anathema.”
  2. (historical)An indication of infamy or disgrace.
  3. (figuratively)An indication of infamy or disgrace.
    “Yet, because of the stigma around nursing home placement, it is hard to find advocates from among the natural advocacy groups the families. You don't see families organized around long-term care as you do around specific diseases.”
    “Hence, the stigma attached to mental disorders in general forms the basis of the stigma towards women with mental health problems. […]”
    “Coming into contact with the person affected by mental illness can help reduce the stigma that the public has towards the illness.”
    “... the stigma in the United States about the lower class accessing “welfare,” […]”
  4. An indication of infamy or disgrace.
  5. (figuratively, poetic, rare)An indication of infamy or disgrace.
    “Bradly scowled - the stigmata of alarm. What ultimate threat to his peace and privacy did this dropping in by young Podson imply?”
  6. A scar or birthmark.
  7. The sticky part of a flower that receives pollen during pollination.
    “Black crowberry. Empetrum nigrum. Crowberry Family. Fruit. — The black drupe is berrylike, globular, and incloses six to nine seedlike nutlets with a seed in each. The calyx is at the base and the stigma is at the apex. The drupes are solitary in the leaf axils. They are juicy, acid, edible, and serve as food for the Arctic birds.”
    “Now you see just how the stamen gets its lusty dust onto the stigma / And why this frenzied chlorophyllous orgy starts in spring is no enigma!”
  8. A visible sign or characteristic of a disease.
  9. Synonym of pterostigma.
  10. A ligature of the Greek letters sigma and tau: Ϛ / ϛ.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Latin stigma, from Ancient Greek στίγμα (stígma, “mark of slavery or disgrace”), from στίζω (stízō, “to mark”). Closely related to stigme, and distantly related to stick.

Anagrams of stigma

2 plays · some not in Scrabble

Hooks

2 extensions · 2 back

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