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sheepishness

noun

as in bashfulness

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sheepishness Still, his courtiers seemed to be encouraging him to lean into sheepishness. — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 20 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sheepishness
  1. bashfulness
  2. diffidence
  3. timidity
  4. timidness
  5. shyness
  6. acquiescence
  7. deference
  8. submissiveness
Noun
  • Her skin—something known as Frubber, a porous patented blend of fleshlike elastic polymers—stretched over a structure of plastic and titanium, and there was no flicker of bashfulness.
    — Dan Turello, New Yorker, 10 Jan. 2026
Definition of bashfulness
Noun
  • Our pro bono military operations have been conducted with noticeable diffidence.
    — Robert Stone, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Celik seems attuned to such questions as a valid (if not necessarily revelatory) core for a play to circle around, but Cramer’s writing often feels caught between an exploration of comic diffidence and simply an expression of it.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 30 Mar. 2026
Definition of diffidence
Noun
  • The complaint of timidity could be read as a criticism of 79-year-old Congressman Bobby Scott of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Education and Workforce Committee and panel’s chair when the party was in the majority.
    — Mark Pazniokas, Hartford Courant, 6 Sep. 2026
  • My mother was never one for parting phrases, mainly because she was overwhelmed by a form of timidity that verged on self-erasure.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of timidity
Noun
  • Never a forward accused of timidness, his offside restraint is not down to any reluctance to make surging runs in behind.
    — Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 24 June 2026
  • The Denver Post editorial is a master class in timidness and in saying nothing of import.
    — DP Opinion, Denver Post, 20 May 2026
Definition of timidness
Noun
  • Instead of focusing on adventurous missions like PAW Patrol, Super Monsters emphasizes the more emotional aspects of childhood, like overcoming shyness, being a good friend, and learning from your mistakes.
    — Kara Nesvig, Parents, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Prince George seems to have inherited Princess Diana’s endearing shyness.
    — Christina Perrier, InStyle, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of shyness
Noun
  • But many assumptions that Stratos’ investors or Utah politicians might have had about Box Elder County – about either the acquiescence of its people or the barrenness of its landscape – have been proved wrong over the past few months.
    — Melanie Stetson Freeman, Christian Science Monitor, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Oil has long funded the Gulf’s expensive social contract, in which governments provide citizens with cushy jobs and high-quality services in return for political acquiescence.
    — Dina Esfandiary, Foreign Affairs, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of acquiescence
Noun
  • Kanter could raise the same basic arguments in an arbitration, but it would be conducted in private, and awards by arbitrators are difficult to challenge in court because judges are obligated to give high deference to those awards.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 14 Sep. 2026
  • But the governor offered his surprising deference to a political rival for an office he’s long been known to have eyes on during an interview conducted by CNN anchor Jake Tapper in a different state — Montana.
    — Andrew Graham, Sacbee.com, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of deference
Noun
  • Attraction is a function of parentage and looks and submissiveness.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 6 May 2026
  • But for Coles, his indoctrination to law enforcement has been a different level of submissiveness.
    — Dan Pompei, New York Times, 2 Dec. 2025
Definition of submissiveness

Browse Nearby Words

sheepishly
sheepishness
sheepskin
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Cite this Entry

“Sheepishness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sheepishness. Accessed 17 Sep. 2026.

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