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^[1], 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

• shamefaced crab
• shamefacedly
• shamefacedness

Translations

bashful or ashamed

• Bulgarian: срамежлив (bg) (sramežliv)
• Dutch: beschaamd (nl)
• Estonian: häbistatud
• French: penaud (fr) m, honteux (fr) m
• German: verlegen (de), verschämt (de)
• Ido: pudoroza (io), shamoza
• Italian: vergognoso (it) m, ritroso (it) m
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: şermîn (ku)

• Russian: робкий (ru) (robkij), стыдливый (ru) (stydlivyj)
• Spanish: avergonzado (es), apenado (es)
• Swedish: skamsen (sv)

References

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