abash

Q: What does "abash" mean?

1. (to embarrass or shame) to make someone feel ashamed or uncomfortable, especially by showing them they are wrong.

Definition

v. to make someone feel ashamed or uncomfortable, especially by showing them they are wrong.

v. to disconcert or discomfit someone, typically by provoking a sudden consciousness of error, inferiority, or guilt.

simple

“The teacher's sharp comment did not abash the student.”

contextual

“He was not easily abashed by public criticism, maintaining his composure even when the crowd began to jeer.”

complex

“The young poet was momentarily abashed by the presence of so many literary giants, yet he managed to deliver his reading with surprising clarity.”

Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word “abash” in context.

Adjective

01. abashed by the silence

“Abashed by the silence that followed his joke, he quickly excused himself from the room.”

adj + prep + noun

02. abashed to admit the truth

“He felt somewhat abashed to admit the truth about his failure to complete the assignment.”

adj + infinitive

03. visibly abashed

“She stood visibly abashed as the headmaster listed her various infractions in front of the class.”

adv + adj

Adverb

04. easily abash

“He was a sensitive youth, easily abashed by the slightest hint of criticism from his peers.”

adv + verb

05. not easily abashed

“Despite the hostile questioning from the committee, the witness was not easily abashed.”

adv + verb

06. utterly abash the young man

“The professor's scathing public correction served to utterly abash the young man.”

adv + verb + noun

Transitive; most frequently encountered as the past participle 'abashed' acting as a predicative adjective.

In modern English, this word is rare outside of literature; 'embarrassed' or 'ashamed' are the standard choices for daily communication.

Attested from 1303, as Middle English abaisen, abaishen, abashen (“lose one's composure, be upset”), from the later 14th-century also transitive "to make ashamed, to perplex or embarrass"; from Anglo-Norman abaïss, from Middle French abair, abaisser (“lose one's composure, be startled, be stunned”), from Old French esbaïr, (French ébahir), from es- (“utterly”) + baïr (“to astonish”), from Medieval Latin *exbadō, from ex- (“out of”) + bado (“I gape, yawn”), an onomatopoeic word imitating a yawn, see also French badaud (“rubbernecker”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

embarrassdisconcertshame humiliate

emboldenreassure

VERB

abash(C2)

NOUN

ADJECTIVE