shame

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See also: s̈ha'me

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʃeɪm/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪm

Etymology 1

From Middle English schame, from Old English sċamu, from Proto-Germanic *skamō.

Noun

shame (usually uncountable, plural shames)

  1. An uncomfortable or painful feeling due to recognition or consciousness of one's own impropriety or dishonor, or something being exposed that should have been kept private.
    When I realized that I had hurt my friend, I felt deep shame.
    The teenager couldn’t bear the shame of introducing his parents.
  2. Something to regret.
    It was a shame not to see the show after driving all that way.
    • 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 34”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. ‎, London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:
      Nor can thy ſhame giue phiſicke to my griefe,
    • 1977, Evelyn "Champagne" King, Shame:
      And what you do to me is a shame.
    • 1983 October 31, Genesis, “That's All”, in Genesis‎:
      But why does it always seem to be / Me lookin' at you, you lookin' at me / It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all
    • 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:
      Time is running out, so I renounce a spin on a Class 387 for a fast run to Paddington on another Class 800 – a shame as the weather was perfect for pictures. Even so, it's enjoyable – boy, can those trains shift under the wires.
  3. Reproach incurred or suffered; dishonour; ignominy; derision.
  4. The cause or reason of shame; that which brings reproach and ignominy.
    • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, 6th edition, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: J Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, , published 1727, →OCLC:
      guides who are the shame of religion
    • 1989, Grant Naylor, Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers:
      Rimmer ducked his body low into his chair, so just his head remained above the table top, and peered past the backs of the examinees in front of him, waiting for the adjudicator to make his move. Waiting for him to leap forward and rip off his flimsy flightsuit, exposing his shame: his illustrated body, Rimmer's cheating frame.
  5. That which is shameful and private, especially private parts.
    • 1902, R. H. Charles, transl., The book of Jubilees, or The little Genesis, London: A. and C. Black, 3:22, page 26:
      And he took fig-leaves and sewed (them) together, and made an apron for himself, and covered his shame.
    • 1991, Martha Graham, Blood Memory, Washington Square Press:
      She turns to lift her robe, and lays it across her as though she were revealing her shame, as though she were naked.
    • 2010, Jill Mansell, Millie's Fling, →ISBN:
      She didn't even have her handbag, because Zelda had thoughtfully left it in the kitchen along with her clothes. And nobody had even offered her so much as a T-shirt to cover her shame.
    • 2015, Marlene van Niekerk, Triomf, →ISBN:
      The trouble started early this morning when Pop was shoving his shirt and vest into his pants so he could cover his shame, as he puts it.
    • 2015, Marion Grace Woolley, Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran, Ghostwoods Books, page 182:
      His genitals lank between his legs, his chin dipped upon his breast, staring down at his shame.
  6. The capacity to be ashamed, inhibiting one from brazen behaviour; due regard for one's own moral conduct and how one is perceived by others; restraint, moderation, decency.
    Don't you have any shame?
Synonyms
Antonyms
  • (antonym(s) of "uncomfortable or painful feeling"): honor
Derived terms
Translations
that which is shameful and private, especially body parts
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Interjection

shame

  1. A cry of admonition for the subject of a speech, either to denounce the speaker or to agree with the speaker's denunciation of some person or matter; often used reduplicated, especially in political debates.
    • 1982, “Telecommunications Bill”, in Hansard:
      Mr John Golding: One would not realise that it came from the same Government, because in that letter the Under-Secretary states: "The future of BT's pension scheme is a commercial matter between BT, its workforce, and the trustees of the pensions scheme, and the Government cannot give any guarantees about future pension arrangements."
      #*: Mr. Charles R. Morris: Shame.
    • 1831, The Bristol Job Nott; or, Labouring Man's Friend‎:
      […] the Duke of Dorset charged in the list with "not known, but supposed forty thousand per year" (charitable supposition) had when formerly in office only about 3 or £4,000, and has not now, nor when the black list was printed, any office whatever — (Much tumult, and cries of "shame" and "doust the liars")
  2. (South Africa) Expressing sympathy.
    Shame, you poor thing, you must be cold!
Derived terms
term derived from shame (interjection)

Etymology 2

From Middle English schamen, from Old English sċamian, from Proto-West Germanic *skamēn, from Proto-Germanic *skamāną.

Verb

shame (third-person singular simple present shames, present participle shaming, simple past and past participle shamed)

  1. (transitive) To cause to feel shame.
    I was shamed by the teacher's public disapproval.
    • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, 6th edition, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: J Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, , published 1727, →OCLC:
      Were there but one righteous in the world, he would […] shame the world, and not the world him.
  2. (transitive) To cover with reproach or ignominy; to dishonor; to disgrace.
  3. (transitive) To denounce as having done something shameful; to criticize with the intent or effect of causing a feeling of shame.
    Stop shaming others about their food choices.
  4. (transitive) To drive or compel by shame.
    The politician was shamed into resigning.
  5. (obsolete, intransitive) To feel shame, be ashamed.
  6. (obsolete, transitive) To mock at; to deride.
Conjugation
Conjugation of shame
infinitive (to) shame
present tense past tense
1st-person singular shame shamed
2nd-person singular shame, shamest† shamed, shamedst†
3rd-person singular shames, shameth† shamed
plural shame
subjunctive shame shamed
imperative shame —
participles shaming shamed

†Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations

References


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