Definition of ABASH

abash

Verb

Verb Forms: abashed, abashing, abashes

  • To destroy the self-confidence or poise of; to embarrass.
  • cause to be embarrassed; cause to feel self-conscious
  • To make ashamed; to embarrass; to destroy the self-possession of, as by exciting suddenly a consciousness of guilt, mistake, or inferiority; to disconcert; to discomfit.
  • To lose self-possession; to become ashamed.

Examples

  • I will abash my opponent by playing a word they’ve never seen before.

Origin / Etymology

Attested from 1303, as Middle English abaisen, abaishen, abashen (“lose one's composure, be upset”), from the later 14th-century also transitive "to make ashamed, to perplex or embarrass"; from Anglo-Norman abaïss, from Middle French abair, abaisser (“lose one's composure, be startled, be stunned”), from Old French esbaïr, (French ébahir), from es- (“utterly”) + baïr (“to astonish”), from Medieval Latin *exbadō, from ex- (“out of”) + bado (“I gape, yawn”), an onomatopoeic word imitating a yawn, see also French badaud (“rubbernecker”).

Scrabble Score: 10

abash: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
abash: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
abash: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 10

abash: valid Words With Friends Word