ashamedadj.
/əˈʃeɪmd/, U.S. /əˈʃeɪmd/ 1. Affected with shame; abashed or put to confusion by a consciousness of guilt or error; disconcerted by a recognition that one's actions or circumstances are in any way not to one's credit.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > humility > feeling of shame > [adjective]
ashamedOE
shamefastc1275
shamefulc1440
hontous?1473
vergoynous1484
shamed1508
shamefaced1873
shame1883
OE Crist III 1298 Þær hi ascamode, scondum gedreahte, swiciað on swiman.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 636 Naked were þei boþe tweyn, Ashamed were þei not certeyn.
c1400 Rowland & Ot. 289 Þe Duke Naymes asschamede was, Þe blode stert up in his face.
c1500 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 31 Loue that servaunte as thy childe that sone is ashamyde.
1611 Bible (King James) Jer. xvii. 13 All that forsake thee shall be ashamed . View more context for this quotation
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 292. ¶9 In Milton the Devil is never describ'd asham'd but once.
2. Const.
a. of (on, for, obsolete) the cause of shame. For a person: vicariously, on his or her account.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > humility > feeling of shame > [adjective] > of something
ashamed1250
1250 Laȝamon Brut 29608 And weren ascam [ed] sore for þan owreaste deade.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Ezek. xxxvi. 32 Be ȝe aschamed on ȝoure weies.
a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1960) xii. Prol. 285 Eschamyt of hir chance.
1673 W. Cave Primitive Christianity i. i. 10 The honester and severer Romans were ashamed on't.
1709 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 12 Nov. (1965) I. 19 I am ashamed for her who wrote them.
1752 S. Johnson Rambler No. 192. ⁋11 I began to be ashamed of sitting idle.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan I. 378 Are you ashamed already of..sorrow and contrition?
b. with subordinate clause.
ΚΠ
1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 6570 To make hym be ashamede Þat he shulde be so defamede.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) ii. ii. 106 I am ashamed I did yeeld to them. View more context for this quotation
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 31 Ashamed am I that I should tell it thee.
c. with infinitive phr.
ΚΠ
1647 A. Cowley Discov. in Mistress i Why should she asham'd or angry be, To be belov'd by Me?
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 302. ⁋11 I am ashamed to be caught in this Pickle.
1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud xiii. iii, in Maud & Other Poems 45 Ashamed to be seen.
1885 N.E.D. at Ashamed Mod. I was ashamed to see it.
3. With infinitive phr.:
a. Reluctant through fear of shame to.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > [adjective] > afraid to
ashamed1382
afraid1523
the mind > emotion > humility > feeling of shame > [adjective] > reluctant through shame
ashamed1382
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Luke xvi. 3 I am aschamyd to begge.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 271. ¶4 He would have made us ashamed to show our Heads.
b. With a negative: prevented or deterred by fear of shame from.
ΚΠ
1414 T. Brampton Paraphr. Seven Penit. Psalms xli. 16 He, that was sumtyme my frende, Is noȝt aschamyd me to assayle.
a1593 H. Smith Serm. (1637) 396 We are ashamed of sinne and yet not ashamed to sinne.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 96 He was not ashamed to answer that he could not live out of the royal smile.
4. rarely attributive. archaic.
ΚΠ
c1746 J. Hervey Medit. (1818) 77 To hide their ashamed heads in the bottom of the ocean.
1872 C. Darwin Expression Emotions Man & Animals xiii. 322 An ashamed person can hardly endure to meet the gaze of those present.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.OE