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bashful - 4 dictionary results

bash⋅ful

  [bash-fuhl]
Use bashful in a Sentence
–adjective
1. uncomfortably diffident and easily embarrassed; shy; timid.
2. indicative of, accompanied by, or proceeding from bashfulness.
Origin:
1540–50; (a)bash + -ful

Related forms:
bash⋅ful⋅ly, adverb
bash⋅ful⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. abashed, modest. See shy 1 .

Antonyms:
arrogant.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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bash·ful   (bāsh'fəl)   
adj.  
  1. Shy, self-conscious, and awkward in the presence of others. See Synonyms at shy1.
  2. Characterized by, showing, or resulting from shyness, self-consciousness, or awkwardness.

[From Middle English basshe, from basshed, past participle of basshen, to be discomfited, probably variant of abaishen; see abash.]
bash'ful·ly adv., bash'ful·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Bashful

Bash"ful\, a. [See Bash.]

1. Abashed; daunted; dismayed. [Obs.]

2. Very modest, or modest excess; constitutionally disposed to shrink from public notice; indicating extreme or excessive modesty; shy; as, a bashful person, action, expression.

Syn: Diffident; retiring; reserved; shamefaced; sheepish.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : bashful
Spanish: tímido, ruboroso,
German: scheu,
Japanese: はにかみやの
More Translations »

bashful 
1548, from baishen "abash" (c.1340), from O.Fr. baissier "bring down, humiliate" (see abash).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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