humble vs preen

humble

verb
  • To make humble or lowly; to make less proud or arrogant; to make meek and submissive. 

  • To defeat or reduce the power, independence, or pride of 

noun
  • An arrest based on weak evidence intended to demean or punish the subject. 

adj
  • Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming. 

  • Having a low opinion of oneself; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; modest. 

preen

noun
  • bodkin; brooch 

  • A forked tool used by clothiers for dressing cloth. 

  • pin 

verb
  • To spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance, e.g. in front of a mirror. 

  • To trim up, as trees. 

  • To improve the appearance of; groom; prettify. 

  • To flatter. 

  • To comb; to make orderly. 

  • To groom; to trim or dress with the beak, as the feathers. 

  • To show off, posture, or smarm. 

  • To pin; fasten. 

How often have the words humble and preen occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )