shame

B1 Topic:Emotions & Feelings

Also spelled shaamed and shyme

US /ʃeɪm/ See IPA manual

Freq #1333

Meanings

1

noun
A painful feeling of guilt or embarrassment about something you have done.

When I realized I had hurt my friend, I felt deep shame.
2

noun
Something that is disappointing or that you regret.

It's a shame you can't come to the party.
3

verb
To make someone feel guilty or embarrassed so that they act differently.

They shamed me into apologizing.
4

noun
A state of dishonour or disgrace.

His crime brought shame on the whole family.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a painful feeling of guilt... humiliation

2 noun · something that is... pity

4 noun · a state of dishonour or... disgrace ignominy

More abasement dishonour embarrassment hurt obloquy opprobriumunhonour

Opposites

dignify exaltation honor

Word family

Forms shamedshamelessshamelessnessshamesshaming

Derived forms antishameashamedbald-shamebeshamebody-shamecover-shamecreep-shamefat-shameforshamegay-shamekinkshameoutshame

Related forms abash disrepute embarrassed

Appears in

Phrases (6)

See all

deep shame
a strong and intense feeling of shame

Adjective + noun
great shame
a considerable degree of shame or regret

Adjective + noun
bring shame
to cause someone or a group to suffer disgrace through one's actions

Verb + noun
feel shame
to experience the painful emotion of shame

Verb + noun
burning shame
an intense, consuming feeling of shame

Adjective + noun
public shame
humiliation experienced openly in front of others or reported publicly

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (2)

See all

Etymology

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”).

schamen Middle English sċamian Old English *skamēn Proto-West Germanic *skamāną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Emotions & Feelings

External links

# shame

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ʃeɪm/
**Frequency rank:** 1333

## Meanings
1. A painful feeling of guilt or embarrassment about something you have done.
2. Something that is disappointing or that you regret.
3. To make someone feel guilty or embarrassed so that they act differently.
4. A state of dishonour or disgrace.

## Examples
- When I realized I had hurt my friend, I felt deep shame.
- It's a shame you can't come to the party.
- They shamed me into apologizing.
- His crime brought shame on the whole family.

## Synonyms
- abasement
- disgrace
- dishonour
- embarrassment
- hurt
- ignominy
- obloquy
- opprobrium
- unhonour

## Antonyms
- dignify
- exaltation
- honor

## Derived Forms
- antishame
- ashamed
- bald-shame
- beshame
- body-shame
- cover-shame
- creep-shame
- fat-shame
- forshame
- gay-shame
- kinkshame
- outshame

## Related Forms
- abash
- disrepute
- embarrassed

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: schamen
- Root: sċamian
- Root: *skamēn
- Root: *skamāną

## Etymology
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”).

## AI Etymology
Shame is 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”). Important forms in the word's history include Middle English schamen, Old English sċamian, Proto-West Germanic *skamēn, Proto-Germanic *skamāną. In current use it includes senses such as A painful feeling of guilt or embarrassment about something you have done and Something that is disappointing or that you regret.

## Topics
- Emotions & Feelings

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