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A colleague of mine wrote:

Thank you for the kind and humbling words.

I know what's "humble" and what's "to humble someone".

I understand here positive intention, but how do you Google it to find the positive meaning of "humbling words" because all I've found was "lowering someone's value" see

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  • I suggest you ask your colleague what they meant.
    – Jack O'Flaherty
    Commented Oct 4, 2021 at 18:15
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    It's a great question to ask why praise can be described as "humbling words", which should mean the complete opposite. I can't find a dictionary definition that captures this meaning. I don't understand the downvote and close vote.
    – gotube ♦
    Commented Oct 4, 2021 at 20:12
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    @gotube Thanks! I appreciate. Yes, downvoters are bold when they are not f2f
    – Elad Benda
    Commented Oct 8, 2021 at 9:52

2 Answers 2

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I think this is a "head over heels" phrase.

The phrase "kind and humbling words" appears often enough almost to be an idiom. It refers to words of praise spoken to or about another person.

But just like "head over heels" it seems to have exactly the opposite meaning!

It seems to mean: "You said good things about me, but you are a great person and so your praise means a lot to me. So now I will act very humbly to compensate for such great praise from such a great person like you." So if someone praises you, you have to act humble. If someone raises you up, you have to bow down low.

But, taken literally, it is very odd.

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    Maybe the person simply didn't feel that they deserved the praise.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Oct 5, 2021 at 7:50
  • Thanks, but they say the words are humbling, not that the person who received them want to stay humble. So I'm not sure the explanation fits. No?
    – Elad Benda
    Commented Oct 8, 2021 at 9:54
  • Yes. this is a head over heels phrase.
    – James K
    Commented Oct 8, 2021 at 14:06
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I think the way to address this is to ask yourself who is being made to feel humble by the words. It must be the speaker. So we can imagine the scenario where the speaker did something good and the other person thanked them and praised them. The result was that the speaker felt humble as they did not feel they deserved such praise.

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  • Thanks, but they say the words are humbling, not that the person who received them want to stay humble. So I'm not sure the explanation fits. No?
    – Elad Benda
    Commented Oct 8, 2021 at 9:55
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    @EladBenda I am not sure exactly what you mean. The speaker felt humble because they felt they did not deserve the praise.
    – mdewey
    Commented Oct 8, 2021 at 11:33

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