Word of the Day

: May 28, 2017

unabashed

adjective un-uh-BASHT

What It Means

: not embarrassed or ashamed by something that has happened or been done or said : undisguised, unapologetic

unabashed in Context

Franklin is an unabashed defender of cyclists' rights, and he isn't afraid to confront drivers in traffic who don't adhere to the rules of the road.

"But, there is one San Antonian who is unabashed about his preference for In-N-Out over Whataburger, and some people have labeled him a 'traitor' because of it." — Madalyn Mendoza, The San Antonio News-Express, 16 Apr. 2017

Did You Know?

To abash is to shake up someone's self-confidence or 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, but when you are abashed your confidence has been shaken 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 late 1500s. Both words can be traced back to the Anglo-French word abair, meaning "to astonish."