abash

[ uh-bash ]

/ əˈbæʃ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR abash ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to destroy the self-confidence, poise, or self-possession of; disconcert; make ashamed or embarrassed: to abash someone by sneering.

RELATED WORDS

rattle, disconcert

Nearby words

abapical, abaptiston, abarognosis, abase, abased, abash, abashed, abasia, abasia trepidans, abasia-astasia, abat-jour

Origin of abash

1275–1325; Middle English abaishen < dialectal Old French abacher, Old French abaissier to put down, bring low (see abase), perhaps conflated with Anglo-French abaiss-, long stem of abair, Old French esba(h)ir to gape, marvel, amaze (es- ex-¹ + -ba(h)ir, alteration of baer to open wide, gape < Vulgar Latin *batāre; cf. bay², bay³)

SYNONYMS FOR abash

shame, discompose, embarrass.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR abash ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

a·bash·ment, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for abash

Rag′abash, a low fellow; Rag′amuffin, a low, disreputable person.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R)|Various
To each he made some apt reply, for even the priestesses of Baaltis could not abash Metem.
Elissa|H. Rider Haggard
My courage seemed to abash them a little; they gathered back their petticoats like birds about to fly.
Henry Brocken|Walter J. de la Mare
"Nothing in the world can abash me now," I thought as I wandered carelessly about the salon.
Childhood|Leo Tolstoy

Her reticence in that respect, however, did not in the least abash Jesse.
The Eddy|Clarence L. Cullen

British Dictionary definitions for abash

abash

/ (əˈbæʃ) /

verb

(tr; usually passive) to cause to feel ill at ease, embarrassed, or confused; make ashamed

Derived Forms

abashment, noun

Word Origin for abash

C14: via Norman French from Old French esbair to be astonished, from es- out + bair to gape, yawn

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012