shame
Americannoun
-
shame
plural
-
the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself or another.
She was overcome with shame.
- Antonyms:
- self-respect, self-esteem, pride
-
susceptibility to this feeling.
to be without shame.
-
disgrace; ignominy.
His actions brought shame upon his parents.
-
a fact or circumstance bringing disgrace or regret.
The bankruptcy of the business was a shame. It was a shame you couldn't come with us.
verb (used with object)
-
shames,
present (3rd person singular)
-
shamed,
past participle, past
-
shaming
present participle
-
to cause to feel shame; make ashamed.
His cowardice shamed him.
-
to publicly humiliate or shame for being or doing something specified (usually used in combination): dog-shaming pictures of canines chewing up shoes.
kids who've been fat-shamed and bullied;
dog-shaming pictures of canines chewing up shoes.
-
to drive, force, etc., through shame.
He shamed her into going.
-
to cover with ignominy or reproach; disgrace.
idioms
-
put to shame,
-
to cause to suffer shame or disgrace.
-
to outdo; surpass.
She played so well she put all the other tennis players to shame.
-
-
for shame! you should feel ashamed!.
What a thing to say to your mother! For shame!
noun
-
a painful emotion resulting from an awareness of having done something dishonourable, unworthy, degrading, etc
-
capacity to feel such an emotion
-
ignominy or disgrace
-
a person or thing that causes this
-
an occasion for regret, disappointment, etc
it's a shame you can't come with us
-
-
to disgrace
-
to surpass totally
-
interjection
verb
-
to cause to feel shame
-
to bring shame on; disgrace
-
(often foll by into) to compel through a sense of shame
he shamed her into making an apology
-
See name
Synonym Usage
Shame, embarrassment, mortification, humiliation, chagrin designate different kinds or degrees of painful feeling caused by injury to one's pride or self-respect. Shame is a painful feeling caused by the consciousness or exposure of unworthy or indecent conduct or circumstances: One feels shame at being caught in a lie. It is similar to guilt in the nature and origin of the feeling. Embarrassment usually refers to a feeling less painful than that of shame, one associated with less serious situations, often of a social nature: embarrassment over breaking a teacup at a party. Mortification is a more painful feeling, akin to shame but also more likely to arise from specifically social circumstances: his mortification at being singled out for rebuke. Humiliation is mortification at being humbled in the estimation of others: Being ignored gives one a sense of humiliation. Chagrin is humiliation mingled with vexation or anger: She felt chagrin at her failure to remember her promise.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
outshameverb (used with object)
-
half-shamedadjective
-
shamableadjective
-
shameableadjective
-
unshamableadjective
-
unshameableadjective
-
unshamedadjective
-
shamablyadverb
-
shameablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
shamesimple
-
shamessimple
-
have shamedperfect
-
has shamedperfect
-
am shamingprogressive
-
are shamingprogressive
-
is shamingprogressive
-
have been shamingperfect progressive
-
has been shamingperfect progressive
Past
-
shamedsimple
-
had shamedperfect
-
was shamingprogressive
-
were shamingprogressive
-
had been shamingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shame
First recorded before 900; (noun) Middle English; Old English sc(i)amu; cognate with German Scham, Old Norse skǫmm; (verb) Middle English schamen, shamien “to be ashamed,” Old English sc(e)amian, derivative of the noun
Explanation
Shame is a painful feeling that's a mix of regret, self-hate, and dishonor. A good person would feel shame if they cheated on a test or did something mean to a friend. Feeling shame — or being ashamed — is one of the most miserable feelings of them all. When you feel shame, you feel like a bad person and regret what you did. If you're trying to make someone else feel bad by scolding them, you're shaming them. People also often say, "That's a shame," when something bad happens — meaning it's sad or a pity.
Vocabulary lists containing shame
Common Five-letter Words for Wordle, List 2
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"Raymond's Run"
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Purple Hibiscus
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“They’re not making any more of these places in the world… Seems like a shame to trade that in for some gold.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
River path “a shame because it’s an otherwise amazing resource.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
"All of us deserve to understand our bodies and to talk about them without shame."
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
The slog of the dragons: Fool me once, shame on you.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
“Miss Genovese gave you five infractions. Miss Genovese ran out of infractions to give you so instead she just hung a sandwich board of shame around your neck for your entire shift.”
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
The second pilot meets their passengers’ fear with hysteria, shrieking, outburst—that pilot shames their passengers, saying, “I can’t do my job because of YOU.”
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
He says it "shames the men and women who gave their lives in Iraq".
From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2025
“That is a disgrace. It outrages and shames me deeply,” Scholz said.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 9, 2023
She shames his grammar, then orders him to call Estella into the room.
From Salon ● Mar. 27, 2023
It shames me to do this, but it is the only way.
From "Beast Rider" by Tony Johnston & María Elena Fontanot de Rhoads
I have spent ten years loving Lesbos as an inheritance, a thing I own from a distance, and the smoke on my screen has shamed that love into something more useful.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
The good news is that the much-needed public discussion of this issue is starting to break through the shamed silence.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
It found there was no single perpetrator of the practice in Britain, but "government decisions shaped the environment in which unmarried mothers were often shamed and coerced into having their children put up for adoption".
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
“I had decided to allow no room in the universe for something which shamed and frightened me.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
She looked a little shamed but she still had some mad in her.
From "Girls Like Us" by Gail Giles
The shaming tends to fall into two categories: the ugly mouthful and the lonely eater.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026
An agitated Jean finds herself praying to none other than Monica Lewinsky, the patron saint of bad romantic choices, or as Langbein puts it, “of those who suffer venal public shaming and patriarchal cruelty.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
In one school I visited in Rochdale, they were starting a girls club in which they would discuss it all: from gender inequality, to domestic violence and body shaming, to periods, sexuality and friendship groups.
From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2026
“You only have so many tries” suggests his attempts to help could backfire; that language is inflammatory and shaming at worst and unhelpful at best.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 27, 2026
On our first practice run we couldn't even get out of the harbor without shaming ourselves in front of the entire boating community.
From "Hole in My Life" by Jack Gantos
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
