shamefaced

English

Etymology

Alteration (due to folk etymology: shame +‎ faced) of shamefast, from Middle English schamefast, schamfast, sceomefest, from Old English sċamfæst (“modest”), equivalent to shame +‎ fast.

Adjective

shamefaced (comparative more shamefaced, superlative most shamefaced)

  1. Bashful, showing modesty or embarrassment.
    • 1918 [1915], Thomas Burke, Nights in London‎, New York: Henry Holt and Company:
      Youth is not glorious; it is shamefaced. It is a time of self-searching and self-exacerbation.
  2. Ashamed, displaying shame, especially by blushing in the face.

Derived terms

Translations

References
  • Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
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