ashamed
- 01 B1 Intermediate
feeling bad or embarrassed because you have done something wrong or silly.
feeling shame or distress arising from a sense of guilt, impropriety, or shortcoming.
Simple“He felt ashamed of his behavior at the party and called to apologize the next day.”
In context“She was deeply ashamed of her failure to speak up when she witnessed the injustice, feeling that her silence made her complicit.”
UsageUsually follows a linking verb like 'be' or 'feel' and takes the preposition 'of'.
PitfallI am ashamed about my mistake. I am ashamed of my mistake.Use the preposition 'of' after ashamed to indicate the cause of the shame.
SynonymsAntonymsproudunabashed - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
unwilling to do something because you are embarrassed or afraid of what people will think.
reluctant to act or speak due to a fear of humiliation or loss of face.
Simple“I was ashamed to admit that I had never read such a famous book.”
In context“Many people are ashamed to seek professional help for mental health issues due to the persistent social stigma surrounding the topic.”
UsageOften followed by a 'to' infinitive.
“We had discussed weight, identity and GLP-1s, but I was so ashamed of going on it that I didn’t want to tell anyone.”
From Middle English ashamed, aschamed, from Old English āsċamod, past participle of Old English āsċamian (“to be ashamed”), equivalent to a- + shame + -ed.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.