: made to feel uncomfortable, disconcerted, or embarrassed by something that has happened or been done or said
I stood back, abashed, wondering what I'd done wrong …Paula Fox

Examples of abashed in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But this year’s bash is looking a little more abashed. New York Times, 10 Nov. 2021 Delphine Hicks—Caroline had waited for her beside the church steps one First Sunday (big meeting day) and had thrown her to the ground and robbed the abashed vampire of her underthings. Zora Neale Hurston, Harper's magazine, 6 Jan. 2020 The video shows a very abashed McKinnon saying goodbye to Ginsburg on the stage following the production. Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 15 Aug. 2019 Privacy concerns cause abashed feeling in Silicon Valley Zuckerberg's potential retort comes after Apple's Cook made comments at the end of March in an interview with Recode's Kara Swisher and MSNBC's Chris Hayes. Chris Ciaccia, Fox News, 11 Apr. 2018 And, many know how to deliver home truths in a way that will elicit abashed agreement rather than anger. Cathie Anderson, sacbee, 9 Mar. 2018 Their reactions varied, from unimpressed to abashed and pained — all of them uncomfortable. Cara Buckley, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'abashed.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English abasshed, from past participle of abaissen, abaschen "to abash"

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of abashed was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near abashed

Cite this Entry

“Abashed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abashed. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

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