shaming

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adjective

sham·​ing ˈshā-miŋ 

: causing feelings of shame

The facts are too shaming for a proud nation to remember.

—Niger Calder

… for me it's a shaming reminder that for five and a half months I let a man call me "Baby Bear" …

—Tina Brown

What happened at Enron … was indeed a shaming episode in the history of US capitalism.

—Geoffrey Owen

… books that if they are left unread are truly shaming …

—Jeff Reid

shamingly adverb

I was reduced to ringing. Got the answering machine. Her voice—but insultingly impersonal, shamingly stilted.

—Michael Frayn

shaming

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noun

plural shamings

: the act or activity of subjecting someone to shame, disgrace, humiliation, or disrepute especially by public exposure or criticism

Other times they would take more aggressive measures, tracking down and exposing the identities of supposed wrongdoers who the group felt had not been brought to justice. Public shaming is a standard tool for this kind of activism …

—Emily Bazelon

Between 1957 and 1961, he … managed to rig the outcomes of at least 43 [college basketball] games, leading to the arrests of 37 players and the shaming of several others.

—Eric Konigsberg

As the parade of … public shamings on Capitol Hill has shown …, the wealthy may not be universally loved, but they're America's favorite spectacle.

—James Poniewozik

Examples of shaming in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

In China, international shaming about human rights issues has sparked defensive nationalist backlashes among citizens, increasing support for the regime. —Rochelle Terman, Foreign Affairs, 27 Mar. 2024

Public shaming requires public agreement as to what constitutes atonement and how that can or should be assessed, and that’s a far harder subject to address. —Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2024

But a few key paragraphs within the 88-page filing mention the exclusion and social shaming of non-iPhone users confined inside green chat bubbles, distinguishing this case from some of the more recondite explanations of tech market competition in recent years. —Lauren Goode, WIRED, 24 Mar. 2024

Kids going through puberty online are likely to experience far more social comparison, self-consciousness, public shaming, and chronic anxiety than adolescents in previous generations, which could potentially set developing brains into a habitual state of defensiveness. —Jonathan Haidt, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2024

The book shows that countries accused of bad behavior rarely mend their ways and that in some cases, shaming can backfire and prompt the further erosion of human rights. —Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024

There’s blaming and shaming because many of those who need help have substance use problems. —Teri Sforza, Orange County Register, 28 Jan. 2024

In an interview with Vogue Australia last year, Victoria discussed how body shaming has erupted on social media and her worries of how that might impact Harper one day. —Angela Andaloro, Peoplemag, 15 Dec. 2023

Conspiracy theorists choose the ones suitable for shaming. —Mike Bass Special To The Cincinnati Enquirer Usa Today Network, The Enquirer, 4 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1741, in the meaning defined above

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing shaming

• body shaming
• fat shaming