shame
n. C / Un. a painful feeling of guilt or embarrassment when you think you have done something wrong or silly. It can also describe a situation that is disappointing or sad.
n. a painful emotion caused by a strong sense of guilt, embarrassment, or unworthiness. Also used to denote a regrettable or unfortunate circumstance.
He felt a deep sense of shame after lying to his friend.
It is a real shame that the local library had to close due to a lack of funding.
The protagonist's internal conflict is driven by the crushing weight of inherited shame, which prevents him from seeking the redemption he clearly deserves.
From Middle English schame, from Old English sċamu, from Proto-Germanic *skamō. Cognates *German Scham (“shame”) *German Low German Schaam (“shame, shamefacedness”) *Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Swedish skam (“shame”) *Faroese skomm (“shame, dishonour”) *Icelandic skömm (“shame”) *Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌼𐌰 (skama, “shame”).
From Middle English schamen, from Old English sċamian, from Proto-West Germanic skamēn, from Proto-Germanic skamāną. Cognates *Dutch schamen (“to be ashamed”) *German schämen (“to be ashamed or embarrassed, bashful”) *Danish, Norwegian Bokmål skamme (“to be ashamed”) *Icelandic skamma (“to scold”) *Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌽 (skaman, “to be ashamed”).
Uncountable when referring to the emotion; countable (usually 'a shame') when referring to a disappointing situation.
It is a pity shame that you missed it.It is a real shame that you missed it.Learners sometimes combine 'pity' and 'shame' into a single phrase; use one or the other to describe a disappointing event.