as in humbly
in a manner showing no signs of pride or self-assertion
the younger boy, who idolized the older one, would sheepishly follow him around and be at his beck and call
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Recent Examples of sheepishly
An engineer with a litter-picker grabbed the fallen cloth and sheepishly moved it behind the machine, out of my line of sight.
—
Billy Perrigo, Time, 14 Oct. 2025
In Inwood, even a pair of volunteers for Cuomo sheepishly stopped him for selfies.
—Eric Lach, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2025
Outside the house, Jake finally gets a hold of Anna, and sheepishly threatens to fire her in a way that suggests our guy doesn’t exactly maintain professional boundaries with his attractive young staffers.
—Andy Andersen, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2025
Nick, who was dressed in a crisp two-piece suit and black dress shoes, later emerges from the pool and sheepishly walks over to James to greet her.
—Edward Segarra, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2025
Billy Perrigo, Time, 14 Oct. 2025
In Inwood, even a pair of volunteers for Cuomo sheepishly stopped him for selfies.
—Eric Lach, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2025
Outside the house, Jake finally gets a hold of Anna, and sheepishly threatens to fire her in a way that suggests our guy doesn’t exactly maintain professional boundaries with his attractive young staffers.
—Andy Andersen, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2025
Nick, who was dressed in a crisp two-piece suit and black dress shoes, later emerges from the pool and sheepishly walks over to James to greet her.
—Edward Segarra, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sheepishly
Adverb
-
While skiing in the Dolomites, I was humbly reminded that most hotel rooms in Italy don’t have coffee makers.—
Katie Jackson,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Oct. 2025
-
Greenidge puts her aims even more humbly.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
16 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
In other words, students prepare for citizenship in a disputatious society by practicing the civic arts—by asserting and advocating for their views—not by meekly absorbing lessons from their instructors.—
Christopher L. Eisgruber,
Time,
9 Oct. 2025
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Well, after years of stuttering, pausing, juddering, waiting for the goalkeeper to dive and then rolling spot kicks meekly into the net, Nick Woltemade may have just reversed the trend.—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
6 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
But Kane didn’t make that shirt and politely declined to comment on it.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
22 Oct. 2025
-
The experience was, politely stated, a rocky one.—
Jeff Pearlman,
HollywoodReporter,
20 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sheepishly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sheepishly. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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