shame
/ˈʃeɪ̯m/ noun, interjection, adjective, verb
Forms shames shaming shamed shamest shamedst shameth
- noun An uncomfortable or painful feeling due to recognition or consciousness of one's own impropriety or dishonor, or something being exposed that should have been kept private. “When I realized that I had hurt my friend, I felt deep shame.”
- noun Something to regret. “It was a shame not to see the show after driving all that way.”
- noun Reproach incurred or suffered; dishonour; ignominy; derision.
- noun The cause or reason of shame; that which brings reproach and ignominy.
- noun That which is shameful and private, especially private parts.
- noun The capacity to be ashamed, inhibiting one from brazen behaviour; due regard for one's own moral conduct and how one is perceived by others; restraint, moderation, decency. “Don't you have any shame?”
- interjection A cry of admonition for the subject of a speech, either to denounce the speaker or to agree with the speaker's denunciation of some person or matter; often used reduplicated, especially in political debates.
- adjective Embarrassed and shy, particularly because one is the subject of attention.
- adjective Causing embarrassment or shyness.
- verb (transitive) To cause to feel shame. “I was shamed by the teacher's public disapproval.”
- verb (transitive) To cover with reproach or ignominy; to dishonor; to disgrace.
- verb (transitive) To denounce as having done something shameful; to criticize with the intent or effect of causing a feeling of shame. “Stop shaming others about their food choices.”
- verb (transitive) To drive or compel by shame. “The politician was shamed into resigning.”
- verb (obsolete, intransitive) To feel shame, be ashamed.
- verb (obsolete, transitive) To mock at; to deride.
Synonyms
dishonor humiliation mortification pity also: Thesaurus:shame abasement disgrace dishonour embarrassment hurt ignominy obloquy opprobrium unhonour what a pity bad luck cuhdear hard lines hard luck too bad attaint
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English schame, from Old English sċamu, from Proto-West Germanic *skamu, from Proto-Germanic *skamō.
*German Low German Schaam (“shame, shamefacedness”)
*Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Swedish skam (“shame”)
*Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌼𐌰 (skama, “shame”).
From Middle English schamen, from Old English sċamian, from Proto-West Germanic *skamēn, from Proto-Germanic *skamāną.
*Dutch schamen (“to be ashamed”)
*German schämen (“to be ashamed or embarrassed, bashful”)
*Danish, Norwegian Bokmål skamme (“to be ashamed”)
*Icelandic skamma (“to scold”)
*Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌽 (skaman, “to be ashamed”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A painful sensation excited by a consciousness of guilt or impropriety, or of having done something which injures reputation, or of the exposure of that which nature or modesty prompts us to conceal.
- noun Reproach incurred or suffered; dishonor; ignominy; derision; contempt.
- verb To make ashamed; to excite in (a person) a comsciousness of guilt or impropriety, or of conduct derogatory to reputation; to put to shame.
- verb To cover with reproach or ignominy; to dishonor; to disgrace.
Etymology [OE. shame, schame, AS. scamu, sceamu; akin to OS. & OHG. scama, G. scham, Icel. skömm, shkamm, Sw. & Dan. skam, D. & G. schande, Goth. skanda shame, skaman sik to be ashamed; perhaps from a root skam meaning to cover, and akin to the root (kam) of G. hemd shirt, E. chemise. Cf. Sham.]
Etymology [AS. scamian, sceamian. See Shame, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “shame”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details