Dictionary

abash en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Canada) audio
• /əˈbæʃ/ (General-American)
• (US) audio
• /əˈbæʃ/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Attested from 1303, as Middle English abaisen, abaishen, abashen (“lose one's composure, be upset”), from the later 14th-century also transitive "to make ashamed, to perplex or embarrass"; from Anglo-Norman abaïss, from Middle French abair, abaisser (“lose one's composure, be startled, be stunned”), from Old French esbaïr, (French ébahir), from es- (“utterly”) + baïr (“to astonish”), from Medieval Latin *exbadō, from ex- (“out of”) + bado (“to gape, yawn”), an onomatopoeic word imitating a yawn, see also French badaud (“rubbernecker”).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To make ashamed; to embarrass; to destroy the self-possession of, as by exciting suddenly a consciousness of guilt, mistake, or inferiority; to disconcert; to discomfit.
   • He was a man whom no check could abash 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XIV, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
   • The stare seemed to abash Poirot. 1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 8, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 129:
2. (intransitive, obsolete) To lose self-possession; to become ashamed.
   • [...] as King Uther lay by his queen, he asked her, by the faith she owed to him, whose was the body; then she sore abashed to give answer. 1485 July 31, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter III, in William Caxton, editor, Le Morte d'Arthur, volume 1:

Forms

Antonyms

countenance · uphold · incite · inspirit · reassure · embolden · animate · rally · abet · dignify · encourage · cheer · honor · buoy

Deriveds

abashless · abashedly · unabashed · abashing · abashedness · abashment · bashful · abashable · abashed

Hypernyms

insult · mock · defame · attack · deride

Hyponyms

put someone in his place · make a fool of oneself · make an exhibition of oneself · put one's foot in one's mouth · put one's foot in it · ether · schlong · soften someone's cough · make a spectacle of oneself

Relateds

embarrassed

Synonyms

confuse · dishearten · daunt · humble · humiliate · bring low · humiliate · confound · disconcert · depress · discompose · abash · shame · snub · faze · humble · debase · fluster · confuse · dishonour · demean · abase · degrade · lower · embarrass · shake · put to shame · disconcert · discountenance · confound · mortify · rattle · shame · embarrass · mortify · discomfit · bewilder

Translations (49)

ru приводи́ть в замеша́тельство (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · az utandırmaq (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · lkt ištélyA (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · no gjøre skamfull (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · it imbarazzare (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · ru смуща́ть (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · ru сконфу́зиться (obsolete: to lose self-possession; to become ashamed) · uk збентежити (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · ru смути́ться (obsolete: to lose self-possession; to become ashamed) · ru конфу́зить (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · sm fa'amā (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · fr confondre (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · de beschämen (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · pl zawstydzać (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · it turbare (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · pt confundir (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · es confundir (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · fi saattaa hämille (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · fi saattaa hämilleen (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · nl beschamen (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · de mit Scham überziehen (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · ru прийти́ в замеша́тельство (obsolete: to lose self-possession; to become ashamed) · pl speszyć (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · uk присоромити (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · fi saattaa häpeilemään (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · tr utandırmak (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · da gøre forlegen (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · bg засрамвам (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · ja 狼狽させる (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · pt envergonhar (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · da skamme ud (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · gv nearee (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · es avergonzar (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · uk бентежити (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · az xəcalət vermək (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · nl in verlegenheid brengen (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · az qızartmaq (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · ia confunder (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · de peinlich berühren (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · uk соромити (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · bg смущавам (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · nl van zijn stuk brengen (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · tr mahcup etmek (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · it confondere (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · fi nolostua (obsolete: to lose self-possession; to become ashamed) · cs zahanbit (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · gv cur nearey (er) (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · mk збунува (to make ashamed, to embarrass) · es abochornar (to make ashamed, to embarrass)