schämen

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See also: schamen

German

Etymology

From Middle High German schamen, schemen, from Old High German scamēn, from Proto-Germanic *skamāną (to be ashamed), equivalent to Scham (shame) +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈʃɛːmən/, , , ,
  • Audio:(file)
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: schä‧men
  • Homophone: Schemen (some speakers, especially northern and eastern regions)

Verb

schämen (weak, third-person singular present schämt, past tense schämte, past participle geschämt, auxiliary haben)

  1. (reflexive) to be ashamed or (less often) embarrassed, bashful
    Du solltest dich schämen.
    You should be ashamed.
    Sie ist stolz auf ihre ausländischen Wurzeln und schämt sich nicht dafür / schämt sich ihrer nicht.
    She is proud of her foreign roots and not ashamed of them.
    Ich schäme mich für meine Wohnung.
    I am ashamed of my apartment.

Usage notes

  • Sich schämen was originally construed with a genitive object (ich schäme mich meiner Vergangenheit). This use has become restricted to elevated style. Otherwise the verb is now construed with a prepositional object, usually with für, less often with wegen (ich schäme mich für meine Vergangenheit).

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

  • schämen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • schämen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • schämen” in Duden online
  • schämen” in OpenThesaurus.de