Shamefaced

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Shamefaced \Shame"faced`\, a. [For shamefast; AS. scamfaest. See
     {Shame}, n., and {Fast} firm.]
     Easily confused or put out of countenance; diffident;
     bashful; modest.
     [1913 Webster]
  


           Your shamefaced virtue shunned the people's prise.
                                                    --Dryden.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Shamefaced was once shamefast, shamefacedness was
           shamefastness, like steadfast and steadfastness; but
           the ordinary manifestations of shame being by the face,
           have brought it to its present orthography. --Trench.
           [1913 Webster] -- {Shame"faced}, adv. --
           {Shame"faced`ness}, n.
           [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  shamefaced
       adj 1: extremely modest or shy; "cheerfully bearing reproaches but
              shamefaced at praise"- H.O.Taylor
       2: showing a sense of shame [syn: {sheepish}]
       3: showing a sense of guilt; "a guilty look"; "the hangdog and
          shamefaced air of the retreating enemy"- Eric Linklater
          [syn: {guilty}, {hangdog}, {shamed}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  56 Moby Thesaurus words for "shamefaced":
     abashed, ashamed, bashful, blushing, chagrined, chapfallen,
     chastened, confused, conscience-smitten, conscience-stricken,
     conscious, coy, crestfallen, crushed, demure, diffident,
     discomfited, embarrassed, full of remorse, hangdog, humbled,
     humiliated, inarticulate, meek, modest, mortified, mousy,
     out of countenance, red-faced, regretful, remorseful, repining,
     rueful, self-accusing, self-condemning, self-conscious,
     self-convicting, self-debasing, self-effacing, self-flagellating,
     self-humiliating, self-punishing, self-reproaching, shamed,
     shamefast, shameful, sheepish, shy, skittish, sorry, stammering,
     timid, timorous, uncomfortable, unhappy about, wistful