shame meaning

UK /ʃeɪm/ US /ʃeɪm/ 1 syllable

shame (noun): a painful emotion resulting from an awareness of inadequacy or guilt.

shame has 7 meanings in this dictionary, as noun and verb.

shame as a noun

  1. a painful emotion resulting from an awareness of inadequacy or guilt

    Type of: feeling

    Kinds: conscience, self-disgust, embarrassment

  2. a state of dishonor
    • one mistake brought shame to all his family
    • suffered the ignominy of being sent to prison

    Synonyms: disgrace, ignominy

    Type of: dishonor

    Kinds: humiliation, obloquy, odium, reproach

  3. an unfortunate development
    • it's a pity he couldn't do it

    Synonyms: pity

    Type of: misfortune

shame as a verb

  1. bring shame or dishonor upon
    • he dishonored his family by committing a serious crime

    Synonyms: dishonor, disgrace, dishonour, attaint

    Kinds: foul

  2. compel through a sense of shame
    • She shamed him into making amends

    Type of: compel

  3. cause to be ashamed

    Type of: arouse

    Kinds: discountenance

  4. surpass or beat by a wide margin

    Type of: surpass

How to pronounce shame

shame is pronounced /ʃeɪm/ in British English and /ʃeɪm/ in American English. It has 1 syllable.

Words that rhyme with shame

Scrabble score: 10 (letter breakdown)

Word lists: words starting with SH · words ending in ME · 5-letter words

More about shame on Wikipedia.