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
- shamefacedly adverb
- shamefacedness noun
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.
To his credit, Wolff is astute and a little shamefaced when analysing the complicity between Trump and the journalists whom he officially reviles.
From The Guardian • Nov. 1, 2020
What’s been excised in both cases is the awkward and the homely, the oddball and the failing—in short, all acknowledgement of our thwarted, shamefaced cravings for connection and intimacy.
From Slate • Mar. 9, 2016
Who can put a price tag on the shamefaced retraction I owe that guy from Takoma Park?
From Washington Post • Oct. 7, 2015
He spoke of being both "flattered" and "shamefaced" about often being mentioned alongside Mr. Burton because of their geographical connection.
From New York Times • Oct. 17, 2012
I received a shamefaced apology from the boy and was instructed not to worry about him further.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
