shamefaced
Americanadjective
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modest or bashful.
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showing shame.
shamefaced apologies.
adjective
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bashful or modest
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showing a sense of shame
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of shamefaced
1545–55; alteration of shamefast by folk etymology; see shame, faced
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.
There are the shamefaced former members, who confess their gullibility as a kind of penance; there are the cockamamie claims on which the belief system is based.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
The fallout, so far, has included shamefaced admissions and apologies from judges; a promise of improvement from the Administrative Office of the U.S.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 5, 2021
This, surely, is how Joyce, a little shamefaced at the stylistic and, in places, emotional excesses of this great early work, would have wanted to hear it done — spoken, not sung.
From New York Times ● May 14, 2019
In such company, The Book of Henry seems likely to slink away shamefaced, but unnoticed.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 22, 2017
Around the world, eugenic programs came to a shamefaced halt.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
