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, abasic

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 formsa·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 Formsabashment, 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

Word Origin and History for abash

abash

"perplex, embarrass," early 15c., earlier "lose one's composure, be upset" (late 14c.), from Old French esbaiss-, present stem of esbaer "gape with astonishment," from es "out" (see ex-) + ba(y)er "to be open, gape," from Latin *batare "to yawn, gape," from root *bat, possibly imitative of yawning. Related: Abashed; abashing. Bashful is a 16c. derivative.