shameless
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
doing something bad or embarrassing without feeling sorry or shy about it.
showing a lack of shame, guilt, or embarrassment, especially regarding behavior that others find offensive or wrong.
Simple“The politician told a shameless lie even though everyone knew the truth.”
In context“The company showed a shameless disregard for safety regulations, prioritizing quarterly profits over the well-being of their workforce.”
- 02 C1 Advanced
showing no respect for social rules about how to behave or dress.
behaving in a way that is considered immodest or lacking in social decorum.
Simple“In the old novel, the character was described as shameless for dancing so wildly.”
In context“The Victorian critics condemned the play as shameless, shocked by its frank depiction of romantic desire.”
From Middle English shameles, shamelees, schameles, schomeles, schomeleas, from Old English sċamlēas, sċeamlēas (“without shame; shameless”), from Proto-Germanic *skamalausaz (“shameless”), equivalent to shame + -less. Cognate with West Frisian skamteleas (“shameless”), Dutch schaamteloos (“shameless”), German schamlos (“shameless”), Danish skamløs (“shameless”), Swedish skamlös (“shameless”), Icelandic skammlaus (“shameless; unashamed”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.