hangdog
[hang-dawg, -dog]
- browbeaten; defeated; intimidated; abject: He always went about with a hangdog look.
- shamefaced; guilty: He sneaked out of the room with a hangdog expression.
- suitable to a degraded or contemptible person; sneaky; furtive.
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- Archaic. a degraded, contemptible person.
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Origin of hangdog
Synonyms
See more synonyms for hangdog on Thesaurus.com2. ashamed, contrite, crestfallen.
Antonyms
1. confident, assured.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for hang-dog
Historical Examples
He had a hang-dog look and felt ashamed, but he was resolute.
Despair's Last JourneyDavid Christie Murray
"To cut your throat, you hang-dog scoundrel," said Sampson, irately.
The Wreck of the TitanMorgan Robertson
They tried to be lively and willing, but there was an air of hang-dog diffidence about the place.
Sister CarrieTheodore Dreiser
The trooper arose and slouched to the tracking-line with a hang-dog air.
The Woman from OutsideHulbert Footner
They helped to throw people off their guard, and to conceal his hang-dog look.
Roughing it in the BushSusanna Moodie
hangdog
- downcast, furtive, or guilty in appearance or manner
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- a furtive or sneaky person
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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 hang-dog
adj.
also hangdog, 1670s, "befitting a hang-dog," a despicable, degraded fellow, so called either from notion of being fit only to hang a dog (cf. cutthroat) or of being a low person (i.e. dog) fit only for hanging. As a noun from 1680s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper