shame

1 of 2

noun

ˈshām 

1

a

: a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or impropriety

b

: the susceptibility to such emotion

have you no shame?

2

: a condition of humiliating disgrace or disrepute : ignominy

the shame of being arrested

3

a

: something that brings censure or reproach

also : something to be regretted : pity

it's a shame you can't go

b

: a cause of feeling shame

shame

2 of 2

verb

shamed; shaming

transitive verb

1

: to bring shame to : disgrace

shamed the family name

2

: to put to shame by outdoing

3

: to cause to feel shame

4

: to force by causing to feel guilty

shamed into confessing

Synonyms

Noun

• contriteness
• contrition
• guilt
• penitence
• regret
• remorse
• remorsefulness
• repentance
• rue
• self-reproach

Verb

• abase
• chasten
• cheapen
• debase
• degrade
• demean
• discredit
• disgrace
• dishonor
• foul
• humble
• humiliate
• lower
• sink
• smirch
• take down

Examples of shame in a Sentence

Noun

He felt shame for his lies.

How could you be so rude? Have you no shame?

Her crimes brought shame upon her family.

He had to endure the shame of being fired.

Verb

He was shamed by his behavior at the party.

shamed the family name with his conviction for embezzlement

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Moreover, the term body count itself carries a strong undercurrent of shame, particularly toward women. —Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 4 Apr. 2025

Doing nothing is no longer an option for schools, teen says Around the country, as cases like Mani's continue to pop up, experts expect that shame prevents most victims from coming forward to flag abuses, suspecting that the problem is much more widespread than media reports suggest. —ArsTechnica, 4 Apr. 2025

Verb

One new phenomenon is social media shaming anglers that post photos of keeping big crappie, Yung said. —Bryan Hendricks, Arkansas Online, 31 Mar. 2025

Each meeting will feature an empty chair in an attempt to shame their member of Congress for not holding an in-person town hall, open to every constituent. —Sarah D. Wire, USA TODAY, 20 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Old English scamu; akin to Old High German scama shame

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing shame

• a crying shame
• body-shame
• fat-shame
• hang one's head in shame
• put (someone or something) to shame
• shame on (someone)

Rhymes for shame

• aim
• blame
• brame
• came
• claim
• dame
• fame
• flame
• frame
• game
• haim
• lame

Kids Definition

shame

1 of 2 noun

ˈshām 

1

a

: a painful emotion caused by having done something wrong or improper

b

: ability to feel shame

have you no shame?

2

: dishonor entry 1 sense 1, disgrace

3

: something that brings disgrace or causes shame or strong regret

4

: something to be regretted : pity

it's a shame you'll miss the show

shame

2 of 2 verb

shamed; shaming

1

: to bring shame to : disgrace

2

: to cause to feel shame

3

: to force by causing to feel guilty

they were shamed into confessing