sheepishly
Americanadverb
Etymology
Origin of sheepishly
Explanation
Doing something sheepishly means expressing your embarrassment and shyness about it, like when you sheepishly admit how much you love watching soap operas on TV with your grandparents. When you think about how timid and shy a flock of sheep can be, the adverb sheepishly will make perfect sense. Anyone who acts in a way that betrays their shame and bashfulness is behaving sheepishly. You may smile sheepishly at your dad when he discovers you ate the last brownie or shrug your shoulders sheepishly when you teacher asks why you didn't finish your homework.
Vocabulary lists containing sheepishly
Ghost
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myPerspectives 8.1
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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.
Sheepishly, she then asked if my speech at the wedding was going to include financial advice.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 24, 2022
Sheepishly, I told him about my toothpick-in-the-hole kluge.
From Washington Post • May 6, 2021
Sheepishly, he hands over his curriculum vitae, at which the Secretary glances swiftly—Duke of Omnium.
From Golf Digest • May 5, 2020
Sheepishly, I admitted that it was I who was about to consume two enormous meals in one evening, back to back, by myself.
From Slate • Aug. 24, 2017
Sheepishly, Harry sat down on a log, took off his boots, stripped down to a pair of white cotton long johns, and hobbled barefoot down a rocky trail toward Boulder Creek.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
