shaming

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adjective

sham·​ing ˈshā-miŋ 

: causing feelings of shame

The facts are too shaming for a proud nation to remember.

—Niger Calder

… for me it's a shaming reminder that for five and a half months I let a man call me "Baby Bear" …

—Tina Brown

What happened at Enron … was indeed a shaming episode in the history of US capitalism.

—Geoffrey Owen

… books that if they are left unread are truly shaming …

—Jeff Reid

shamingly adverb

I was reduced to ringing. Got the answering machine. Her voice—but insultingly impersonal, shamingly stilted.

—Michael Frayn

shaming

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noun

plural shamings

: the act or activity of subjecting someone to shame, disgrace, humiliation, or disrepute especially by public exposure or criticism

Other times they would take more aggressive measures, tracking down and exposing the identities of supposed wrongdoers who the group felt had not been brought to justice. Public shaming is a standard tool for this kind of activism …

—Emily Bazelon

Between 1957 and 1961, he … managed to rig the outcomes of at least 43 [college basketball] games, leading to the arrests of 37 players and the shaming of several others.

—Eric Konigsberg

As the parade of … public shamings on Capitol Hill has shown …, the wealthy may not be universally loved, but they're America's favorite spectacle.

—James Poniewozik

Examples of shaming in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Ditch your call for an international public shaming. —Steve Buckley, The Athletic, 23 Jan. 2025

And make no mistake, travel shaming in the age of the internet is fun – at least for those doing the shaming. —Christopher Elliott, USA TODAY, 27 Dec. 2024

Parental shaming can also lead parents to withdraw, leading to social isolation. —Libby Ryan, Parents, 20 Dec. 2024

Public shaming of companies for their diversity practices was happening long before Starbuck began pressing the issue, Creary said. —Alex Harring,brandon Gomez, CNBC, 2 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1741, in the meaning defined above

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing shaming

• body shaming
• fat shaming