public shaming

American

[puhb-lik shaym-ing] / ˈpʌb lɪk ˈʃeɪm ɪŋ /

noun

the act or practice of humiliating someone for their behavior or characteristics by mocking, harshly criticizing, or expressing moral outrage against them in the media or on social media.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

public shamings

plural

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.

See Examples For:

public shaming

Some leagues take the public shaming to extremes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 7, 2025

Professor Julia Walters, sister of Ms Perry, said Ofsted's new plans "still put school leaders at risk of public shaming", and urged the Education Secretary to halt the rollout.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2025

Soon after that, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” reminded his viewers of how uncivil Leno was toward Lewinsky in an episode about public shaming.

From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2025

Soon after I left Gawker Media a few months post the public shaming, to that end, I began hearing about lawyers who wanted to help former employees sue Gawker and Nick Denton.

From Slate ● Nov. 19, 2023

The beggars went back to the church steps, the stragglers moved off, and the neighbors departed so that the public shaming of Kino would not be in their eyes.

From "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023