Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Modesty; diffidence.
  • noun Shameful character; disgracefulness.
  • noun Shame; disgrace.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable The property of being shameful.
  • noun countable The result or product of being shameful.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun unworthiness meriting public disgrace and dishonor

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From shameful +‎ -ness

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word shamefulness.

Examples

  • The prefix fi - adds the idea of shamefulness to what follows, thus producing this easily understandable result, synonymous with the more usual Esperanto term bordel (o).

    VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol VII No 3 1980

  • I am saved the pain of being burnt alive, and thus, perhaps, saved from a death of despair, but the shamefulness is the same, and it is that I think of. "

    Celebrated Crimes (Complete) Alexandre Dumas p��re 1836

  • While I think steroids likely played a role in the surge in HRs, there are also other factors, including – along with the equipment and training points raised earlier in the thread – things like the diminishing sense of shamefulness attached to hitters striking out.

    Matthew Yglesias » PEDs 2010

  • Viraj felt the silliness of all this — the utter lack of dignity — and a shamefulness attached itself tightly to his skin, a realization that for all his successes and failures, he was still a cowardly boy, provoked unnecessarily by stupid envy.

    Fifty-One 2010

  • If they give an incorrect answer in class or perform poorly on an exam, they can sometimes be so stymied by shame that it is necessary to reassure them, minimizing their feelings of shamefulness so they can effectively learn and perform.

    TEXAS FAITH: Is shame still part of our culture? | RELIGION Blog | dallasnews.com 2010

  • It reinforces the idea that breasts and breastfeeding hover on the very razor's edge of shamefulness, that these things on our chests are somehow, in some way, dirty and icky and bad, unless we operate them under the very strictest rules of propriety only if they're covered up! only if it's your own baby! only if it doesn't make us uncomfortable! only if WE SAY IT'S OKAY!

    They Shoot Wet Nurses, Don't They? 2009

  • It reinforces the idea that breasts and breastfeeding hover on the very razor's edge of shamefulness, that these things on our chests are somehow, in some way, dirty and icky and bad, unless we operate them under the very strictest rules of propriety only if they're covered up! only if it's your own baby! only if it doesn't make us uncomfortable! only if WE SAY IT'S OKAY!

    Archive 2009-03-08 2009

  • It reinforces the idea that breasts and breastfeeding hover on the very razor's edge of shamefulness, that these things on our chests are somehow, in some way, dirty and icky and bad, unless we operate them under the very strictest rules of propriety only if they're covered up! only if it's your own baby! only if it doesn't make us uncomfortable! only if WE SAY IT'S OKAY!

    They Shoot Wet Nurses, Don't They? 2009

  • Even without taking the current economic climate into consideration, this crime approaches brutalizing dogs in shamefulness.

    Russ Wellen: Michael Vick's Second Crime Almost as Bad as his First 2009

  • Although she is a bright and resourceful woman, there is a shamefulness in her lack of ethics -- a feminist, a womanist, and a humanist is forced to discount her ardency and tenacity because of her lack of ethics.

    New Pro-Hillary Group's Ad: Obama Has No Specifics On The Economy 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.