To abash someone is to shake up their self-possession, as illustrated by Charlotte Brontë in her 1849 novel Shirley: "He had never blushed in his life; no humiliation could abash him." When you are unabashed you make no apologies for your behavior (nor do you attempt to hide or disguise it), but when you are abashed your confidence has been thrown off and you may feel rather inferior or ashamed of yourself. English speakers have been using abashed to describe feelings of embarrassment since the 14th century, but they have only used unabashed (brazenly or otherwise) since the 15th century (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
She is an unabashed supporter of the president's policies. unabashed by their booing and hissing, he continued with his musical performance
Recent Examples on the WebGill, who was the focus of the film Dumb Money, has been an unabashed GameStop bull for years, posting on Twitter/X as Roaring Kitty and on Reddit under the name DeepF—ingValue.—Bychris Morris, Fortune, 3 June 2024 But between anecdotes about Woody Harrelson saving his life and dunking on teens at the YMCA while on tour, a pure, unabashed love for music permeates every page.—Allaire Nuss, EW.com, 28 May 2024 Where the republic’s hypocrisy fed its fatal weakness, corruption, the Taliban’s unabashed brutality was consonant with the movement’s strength, its unity.—Matthieu Aikins Victor J. Blue Peter Ganim Krish Seenivasan Steven Szczesniak, New York Times, 22 May 2024 In recent years, Kid Rock has attracted both adulation and criticism for his unabashed advocacy of MAGA culture war talking points.—Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for unabashed
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unabashed.' 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 unabaiste, from un- + abaiste, past participle of abaissen, abaishen to abash
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