ashamed

adjective \ ə-ˈshāmd \

Definition of ashamed

1 a :feeling shame, guilt, or disgrace

She felt ashamed for hitting her brother.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

Losing is nothing to be ashamed of.

He was deeply ashamed of his behavior.

b :feeling inferior or unworthy

2 :reluctant or unwilling to do something because of shame or embarrassment

I was ashamed to be seen with him.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I don't know the answer.

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ashamedly

play \-ˈshā-məd-lē\ adverb

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Recent Examples of ashamed from the Web

The author should be ashamed of himself in passing off this account as true—

— margaret hartmann, Daily Intelligencer, "Trump Dropped Christie Over Cell Phone Germs, or Maybe All the Other Problems," 18 July 2017
Nelsan was ashamed of his addiction and thus was reluctant to talk about it during his life.

— ellen mcgirt, Fortune, "What Nelsan Ellis’ Death Can Teach Us About Building Addiction Programs That Work," 11 July 2017
Nelsan was ashamed of his addiction and thus was reluctant to talk about it during his life.

— ellen mcgirt, Fortune, "What Nelsan Ellis’ Death Can Teach Us About Building Addiction Programs That Work," 11 July 2017
Nelsan was ashamed of his addiction and thus was reluctant to talk about it during his life.

— ellen mcgirt, Fortune, "What Nelsan Ellis’ Death Can Teach Us About Building Addiction Programs That Work," 11 July 2017
Nelsan was ashamed of his addiction and thus was reluctant to talk about it during his life.

— christina coleman, Essence.com, "Family Of 'True Blood' Actor Nelsan Ellis Reveal Cause Of Untimely Death," 10 July 2017
Making us ashamed, afraid and resentful of our bodies, our natural vessel.

— michelle ward trainor, PEOPLE.com, "Self-Love Blogger Posts Faux Before & After to Show ‘How Easy It Is to Manipulate Your Image Online’," 26 June 2017
First consider Genesis 2:25–3:1: And the two of them were naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

— sam bray, Washington Post, "Translating Genesis: double translation," 25 June 2017
Not Okay with people saying that erotic or gay romance fanfic was something to be ashamed of.

— cecilia tan, Ars Technica, "Coming out as a Slytherin," 25 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ashamed.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of ashamed

Middle English, from Old English āscamod, past participle of āscamian to shame, from ā- (perfective prefix) + scamian to shame — more at abide, shame

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

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