shamefaced

[ sheym-feyst ]

/ ˈʃeɪmˌfeɪst /

adjective

modest or bashful.

showing shame: shamefaced apologies.

Nearby words

shambles, shambolic, shame, shame on you, shamed, shamefaced, shamefast, shamefastly, shameful, shamefully, shameless

Origin of shamefaced

1545–55; alteration of shamefast by folk etymology; see shame, faced

Related formsshame·fac·ed·ly

[sheym-fey-sid-lee, sheym-feyst-lee] /ˌʃeɪmˈfeɪ sɪd li, ˈʃeɪmˌfeɪst li/, adverbshame·fac·ed·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for shamefacedly

He shamefacedly and naively confessed it: 'I say such an awful lot of things.
The Return|Walter de la Mare
She shamefacedly tried to hide her red eyes from her friends keen gaze.
The Liberty Girl|Rena I. Halsey
The invalid sat up quickly, as she shamefacedly 162 wiped away the stray tears.
The Liberty Girl|Rena I. Halsey
"Longer'n that, child—much longer'n that," admitted Aunt 'Mira, shamefacedly.
Janice Day|Helen Beecher Long

Then, shamefacedly enough, I turned and forced myself back toward that smoking ruin.
The Book of Susan|Lee Wilson Dodd

British Dictionary definitions for shamefacedly

shamefaced

/ (ˈʃeɪmˌfeɪst) /

adjective

bashful or modest

showing a sense of shame

Derived Formsshamefacedly (ʃeɪmˈfeɪsɪdlɪ, ˈʃeɪmˌfeɪstlɪ), adverbshamefacedness, noun

Word Origin for shamefaced

C16: alteration of earlier shamefast, from Old English sceamfaest; see shame, fast 1

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 shamefacedly

shamefaced

adj.

"modest, bashful," 1550s, folk etymology alteration of shamefast, from Old English scamfæst "bashful," literally "restrained by shame," or else "firm in modesty," from shame (n.) + -fæst, adjectival suffix (see fast (adj.)). Related: Shamefacedly; shamefacedness.

shamefaced, -fast. It is true that the second is the original form, that -faced is due to a mistake, & that the notion attached to the word is necessarily affected in some slight degree by the change. But those who, in the flush of this discovery, would revert to -fast in ordinary use are rightly rewarded with the name of pedants .... [Fowler]