shame, n. [OE. shame, schame, AS. scamu, sceamu; akin to OS. & OHG. scama, G. scham, Icel. skömm, shkamm, Sw. & Dan. skam, D. & G. schande, Goth. skanda shame, skaman sik to be ashamed; perhaps from a root skam meaning to cover, and akin to the root (kam) of G. hemd shirt, E. chemise. Cf. Sham.].

A painful sensation excited by a consciousness of guilt or impropriety, or of having done something which injures reputation, or of the exposure of that which nature or modesty prompts us to conceal. [1913 Webster]
"HIde, for shame,
Romans, your grandsires' images,
That blush at their degenerate progeny." [1913 Webster]

"Have you no modesty, no maiden shame?" [1913 Webster]
Reproach incurred or suffered; dishonor; ignominy; derision; contempt. [1913 Webster]
"Ye have borne the shame of the heathen." [1913 Webster]

"Honor and shame from no condition rise." [1913 Webster]

"And every woe a tear can claim
Except an erring sister's shame." [1913 Webster]
The cause or reason of shame; that which brings reproach, and degrades a person in the estimation of others; disgrace. [1913 Webster]
"O Cshame is this!" [1913 Webster]

"Guides who are the shame of religion." [1913 Webster]
The parts which modesty requires to be covered; the private parts. Isa. xlvii. 3. [1913 Webster]

For shame! you should be ashamed; shame on you! -- To put to shame, to cause to feel shame; to humiliate; to disgrace. “Let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.” Ps. xl. 14.

shame, v. t.

To make ashamed; to excite in (a person) a comsciousness of guilt or impropriety, or of conduct derogatory to reputation; to put to shame. [1913 Webster]
"Were there but one righteous in the world, he would . . . shame the world, and not the world him." [1913 Webster]
To cover with reproach or ignominy; to dishonor; to disgrace. [1913 Webster]
"And with foul cowardice his carcass shame." [1913 Webster]
To mock at; to deride. [1913 Webster]
"Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor." [1913 Webster]

shame, v. i. [AS. scamian, sceamian. See Shame, n.].

To be ashamed; to feel shame. [1913 Webster]

"I do shame
To think of what a noble strain you are." [1913 Webster]

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

shame, n. & v.
--n.
1 a feeling of distress or humiliation caused by consciousness of the guilt or folly of oneself or an associate.
2 a capacity for experiencing this feeling, esp. as imposing a restraint on behaviour (has no sense of shame).
3 a state of disgrace, discredit, or intense regret.
4 a a person or thing that brings disgrace etc. b a thing or action that is wrong or regrettable.
--v.tr.
1 bring shame on; make ashamed; put to shame.
2 (foll. by into, out of) force by shame (was shamed into confessing).

Idiom

for shame! a reproof to a person for not showing shame. put to shame disgrace or humiliate by revealing superior qualities etc. shame on you! you should be ashamed. what a shame! how unfortunate!

Etymology

OE sc(e)amu

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THESAURUS

shame

abasement, abash, abashment, abomination, apologies, atrocity, attrition, ayenbite of inwit, bad, besmirch, bitterness, blacken, bring down, bring into discredit, bring low, bring shame upon, bully, burning shame, byword, byword of reproach, calamity, calumniate, calumniation, cast reproach upon, catastrophe, chagrin, chasten, coerce, comedown, contempt, contriteness, contrition, coyness, debase, debasement, decency, decorousness, decorum, defamation, defame, deflate, deflation, defrock, degradation, degrade, delicacy, denigration, deplume, derogation, descent, desecration, diffidence, dirty shame, disaster, disconcert, discountenance, discredit, disesteem, disfavor, disgrace, dishonor, disparagement, displume, disrepute, drive, dump, eclipse, elegance, embarrass, embarrassment, error, evil, force, grief, guilt, hangdog look, humble, humbled pride, humiliate, humiliation, humility, ignominy, impute shame to, infamy, iniquity, knavery, let down, letdown, low-down dirty shame, modesty, mortification, mortify, obliquity, obloquy, odium, opprobrium, outclass, outdo, outrage, outshine, outstrip, overshadow, peccancy, pillory, pity, profanation, propriety, prudishness, pudency, pudicity, push, put down, put out, put to shame, put-down, reflect discredit upon, regret, regretfulness, regrets, regretting, remorse, remorse of conscience, remorsefulness, repining, reproach, reprobacy, respectability, sacrilege, scandal, scandalize, seemliness, self-abasement, self-abnegation, self-diminishment, self-reproach, setdown, shamefacedness, shamefastness, shamefulness, show up, shyness, sin, smear, sorriness, sorrow, stain, stigmatize, subdue, suppress, surpass, taint, tarnish, terrible thing, timidity, unfrock, vilification, villainy, violation, wistfulness, wrong

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ROGET THESAURUS

shame

Purity

N purity, decency, decorum, delicacy, continence, chastity, honesty, virtue, modesty, shame, pudicity, pucelage, virginity, vestal, virgin, Joseph, Hippolytus, Lucretia, Diana, prude, pure, undefiled, modest, delicate, decent, decorous, virginibus puerisque, simon-pure, chaste, continent, virtuous, honest, Platonic, virgin, unsullied, cherry, as chaste as unsunn'd snow, a soul as white as heaven, 'tis Chastity, my brother, Chastity, to the pure all things are pure.

Disrepute

N disrepute, discredit, ill repute, bad repute, bad name, bad odor, bad favor, ill name, ill odor, ill favor, disapprobation, ingloriousness, derogation, abasement, debasement, abjectness, degradation, dedecoration, a long farewell to all my greatness, odium, obloquy, opprobrium, ignominy, dishonor, disgrace, shame, humiliation, scandal, baseness, vileness, turpitude, infamy, tarnish, taint, defilement, pollution, stain, blot, spot, blur, stigma, brand, reproach, imputation, slur, crying shame, burning shame, scandalum magnatum, badge of infamy, blot in one's escutcheon, bend sinister, bar sinister, champain, point champain, byword of reproach, Ichabod, argumentum ad verecundiam, sense of shame, disgraced, blown upon, shorn of its beams, shorn of one's glory, overcome, downtrodden, loaded with shame, in bad repute, out of repute, out of favor, out of fashion, out of countenance, at a discount, under a cloud, under an eclipse, unable to show one's face, in the shade, in the background, out at elbows, down at the elbows, down in the world, inglorious, nameless, renownless, obscure, unknown to fame, unnoticed, unnoted, unhonored, unglorified, shameful, disgraceful, discreditable, disreputable, despicable, questionable, unbecoming, unworthy, derogatory, degrading, humiliating, infra dignitatem, dedecorous, scandalous, infamous, too bad, unmentionable, ribald, opprobrious, errant, shocking, outrageous, notorious, ignominious, scrubby, dirty, abject, vile, beggarly, pitiful, low, mean, shabby base, to one's shame be it spoken, Int, fie!, shame!, for shame!, proh pudor!, O tempora!, O mores!, ough!, sic transit gloria mundi!.

VB be inglorious, incur disgrace, have a bad name, earn a bad name, put a halter round one's neck, wear a halter round one's neck, disgrace oneself, expose oneself, play second fiddle, lose caste, pale one's ineffectual fire, recede into the shade, fall from one's high estate, keep in the background, be conscious of disgrace, look blue, look foolish, look like a fool, cut a poor figure, cut a sorry figure, laugh on the wrong side of the mouth, make a sorry face, go away with a flea in, one's ear, slink away, cause shame, shame, disgrace, put to shame, dishonor, throw dishonor upon, cast dishonor upon, fling dishonor upon, reflect dishonor upon, be a reproach, to, derogate from, tarnish, stain, blot sully, taint, discredit, degrade, debase, defile, beggar, expel, impute shame to, brand, post, stigmatize, vilify, defame, slur, cast a slur upon, hold up to shame, send to Coventry, tread under foot, trample under foot, show up, drag through the mire, heap dirt upon, reprehend, bring low, put down, snub, take down a peg, take down a peg lower, take down a peg or two, obscure, eclipse, outshine, take the shine out of, throw into the shade, cast into the shade, overshadow, leave in the background, put in the background, push into a corner, put one's nose out of joint, put out, put out of countenance, upset, throw off one's center, discompose, disconcert, put to the blush.

Wrong

N wrong, what ought not to be, what should not be, malum in se, unreasonableness, grievance, shame, injustice, tort, unfairness, iniquity, foul play, partiality, leaning, bias, favor, favoritism, nepotism, party spirit, partisanship, bigotry, undueness, wrongdoing (vice), unlawfulness, robbing Peter to pay Paul, the wolf and the lamb, vice, a custom more honored in the breach than the obser, wrong, wrongful, bad, too bad, unjust, unfair, inequitable, unequitable, unequal, partial, one-sided, injurious, tortious, objectionable, unreasonable, unallowable, unwarrantable, unjustifiable, improper, unfit, unjustified, illegal, iniquitous, immoral, in the wrong, in the wrong box, wrongly, it will not do.

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