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shamefaced

 - 3 dictionary results

shame⋅faced

  [sheym-feyst]
Use shamefaced in a Sentence
–adjective
1. modest or bashful.
2. showing shame: shamefaced apologies.
Origin:
1545–55; alter. of shamefast by folk etym.; see shame, faced

Related forms:
shame⋅fac⋅ed⋅ly  [sheym-fey-sid-lee, sheym-feyst-lee] , adverb
shame⋅fac⋅ed⋅ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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shame·faced   (shām'fāst')   
adj.  

  1. Indicative of shame; ashamed: a shamefaced explanation.

  2. Extremely modest or shy; bashful.


[By folk etymology from obsolete shamefast, bashful, ashamed, from Middle English, from Old English sceamfæst : sceamu, shame + fæst, fixed; see fast1.]
shame'fac'ed·ly (-fā'sĭd-lē) adv., shame'fac'ed·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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Word Origin & History

shamefaced 
1555, "modest, bashful," folk etymology alteration of shamefast, from O.E. scamfæst "bashful," lit. "restrained by shame," or else "firm in modesty," from shame + -fæst, adjectival suffix (see fast (adj.)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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