Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

bashful

[bash-fuhl]
See more synonyms for bashful on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. uncomfortably diffident and easily embarrassed; shy; timid.
  2. indicative of, accompanied by, or proceeding from bashfulness.
Show More

Origin of bashful

First recorded in 1540–50; (a)bash + -ful
Related formsbash·ful·ly, adverbbash·ful·ness, nouno·ver·bash·ful, adjectiveo·ver·bash·ful·ly, adverbo·ver·bash·ful·ness, nounun·bash·ful, adjectiveun·bash·ful·ly, adverbun·bash·ful·ness, noun

Synonyms

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com
1. abashed, modest. See shy1.

Antonyms

arrogant.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

reticentsheepishdiffidentcoyconfusedembarrassedtimidself-consciousabashedbackwardblushingcharydemurehumblemodestnervousreservedretiringshamefacedshrinking

Examples from the Web for bashful

Historical Examples

  • But, I fancy, it is many, many years ago since he was bashful.

    Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)

    Samuel Richardson

  • The man to be so bashful; the woman to want so much courting!

    Clarissa, Volume 3 (of 9)

    Samuel Richardson

  • "Probably the presence of Stumpy made her bashful," suggested Ned.

  • Bashful or bold then, he will know how to make us seniors very unnecessary.

    Essays, First Series

    Ralph Waldo Emerson

  • "Oh, they are most beautiful," replied she, with a bashful falling of her eyelids.

    Roland Cashel

    Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for bashful

bashful

adjective
  1. disposed to attempt to avoid notice through shyness or modesty; diffident; timid
  2. indicating or characterized by shyness or modesty
Show More
Derived Formsbashfully, adverbbashfulness, noun

Word Origin

C16: from bash, short for abash + -ful
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 bashful

adj.

1540s, from baishen "to be filled with consternation or dismay" (mid-14c.), from Old French baissier "bring down, humiliate" (see abash). Related: Bashfully; bashfulness (1530s).

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper