shame

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noun

1 feeling that you have lost the respect of others

ADJECTIVE

▪ deep

▪ secret

▪

This is the secret shame I have carried around for decades.

▪ public

▪

He risked public shame and possible imprisonment.

▪

All she wanted was to escape so that she would not have to face this public shame.

▪ national (esp. BrE)

▪

It is a national shame that our prisons serve as mental institutions.

VERB + SHAME

▪ be filled with, feel

▪ bring, cause

▪

His arrest for stealing brought shame on his family.

▪ die of (figurative)

▪

I nearly died of shame!

PREPOSITION

▪ from shame

▪

She wept from the shame of having let everyone down.

▪ in shame

▪

She shut her eyes in shame.

▪ to your shame

▪

To my shame, I didn't tell Robert about the party.

▪

To my everlasting shame, I failed her when she needed me most.

▪ without shame

▪

He had cried noisily and without shame at the news of Esther's death.

▪ with shame

▪

She blushed with shame.

▪ shame about, shame at

▪

She felt a flush of shame at what she'd said.

▪ shame for

▪

Do you feel no shame for what you've done?

▪ shame in

▪

There's no shame in making an honest living.

▪ shame on

▪

Shame on you for doubting me!

▪ shame over

▪

You feel absolutely no shame over what you did, do you?

PHRASES

▪ bow your head in shame, hang your head in shame

▪ a feeling of shame, a sense of shame

▪

He was being held by two security guards, his head bowed in shame.

2 a shame sth that makes you feel disappointed

ADJECTIVE

▪ awful (esp. BrE), great, real, terrible

▪ crying, damn, damned (all informal)

PREPOSITION

▪ shame about

▪

It's a terrible shame about Steve losing his job.

PHRASES

▪ a bit of a shame (esp. BrE), rather a shame (esp. BrE), such a shame, what a shame

▪

What a shame you can't come!

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verb

ADVERB

▪ publicly

▪

The people who did this all deserve to be publicly shamed.

PREPOSITION

▪ into

▪

An outcry from customers has shamed the company into lowering its prices.