English Explanatory Dictionary

abash

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb

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.
To lose self-possession; to become ashamed.

Pronunciation

/əˈbæʃ/ en-us-abash.ogg en-ca-abash.ogg

Word forms

abash abashes abashing abashed abasse

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”).

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

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

Related words

embarrassed

Derived words

abashable abashed abashedly abashedness abashing abashless abashment bashful unabashed

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

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