abashed; abashing; abashes
: to destroy the self-possession or self-confidence of (someone) : disconcert
He had never blushed in his life; no humiliation could abash him.—
Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë
abashment
noun
… I turned to Susan, still sitting there huddled up in her coat, looking, to my abashment, as helpless as the day I had found her.
—Phillip Roth
Phillip Roth
Examples of abash in a Sentence
felt terribly abashed when she walked into the wrong hotel room
Recent Examples on the Web
Here, furious parents throw open the cupboard to reveal their daughter’s abashed lover, as younger children look on wide-eyed and the family dog prepares to attack.
—Susan Delson, WSJ, 20 June 2018
Bloom called him out, and the abashed Harris apologized.
—Christina Schoellkopf, latimes.com, 15 June 2018
Not easily abashed by body-shamers, Teigen has publicly posted next-to-naked topless photos in the past.
—Megan Decker, Harper's BAZAAR, 22 May 2018
Hefner was good-natured but rather abashed, diffident, and shy.
—Jeanie Pyun, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Oct. 2017
Peverelli seemed slightly abashed at the images’ potential elevation from commerce to art.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 22 May 2017
But there is also a sort of confused, abashed one, often ironic, that acknowledges a problem and tries to work through a particularly American obliviousness.
—Jill McDonough, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2017
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Susan Delson, WSJ, 20 June 2018
Bloom called him out, and the abashed Harris apologized.
—Christina Schoellkopf, latimes.com, 15 June 2018
Not easily abashed by body-shamers, Teigen has publicly posted next-to-naked topless photos in the past.
—Megan Decker, Harper's BAZAAR, 22 May 2018
Hefner was good-natured but rather abashed, diffident, and shy.
—Jeanie Pyun, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Oct. 2017
Peverelli seemed slightly abashed at the images’ potential elevation from commerce to art.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 22 May 2017
But there is also a sort of confused, abashed one, often ironic, that acknowledges a problem and tries to work through a particularly American obliviousness.
—Jill McDonough, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Abash.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abash. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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