A Humiliatrix is a specific type of female dominant skilled in the particular art of erotic humiliation and/or real-life humiliation.
Being very much a contemporary term, a Humiliatrix can be thought of as being more of an intellectual or 'modern dominant', inflicting stress and mental anguish via the power of the word, rather than the
whip. Its usage is frequently combined with similarly modern
fetish scenarios such as urban,
office, Valley Girl, and
college/university environments. (e.g
Office Humiliatrix).
Despite its intellectual slant, a Humiliatrix may utilise certain physical methods and actions so as to heighten a particular humiliating incident, such as face-slapping, spitting and cuckolding. Financial manipulation and blackmail are also often associated with a Humiliatrix.
The modernity of Humiliatrix domination extends to its relative imagery and style; whereas a Dominatrix may traditionally be associated with leather,
boots and whips, a Humiliatrix is associated with more contemporary clothing, clubwear, or adopting an executive, and/or 'cosmopolitan' image.
Although generally considered a portmanteau that combines "humiliation" and "dominatrix", the first recorded usage of the term appears in the 1853 edited copy of the Diary and Autobiography of Edmund Bohun Esq 1645-1699. (Translated from latin
literally meaning 'female who humiliates', and in this instance as humbler of
human pride - humani fastigū humiliatrix).