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”).
Synonyms
embarrass, abase, abash, bewilder, bring low, confound, confuse, daunt, debase, degrade, demean, depress, discomfit, discompose, disconcert, discountenance, dishearten, faze, fluster, humble, humiliate, lower, mortify, put to shame, rattle, shake, shame, snub
Antonyms
abet, animate, buoy, cheer, countenance, dignify, embolden, encourage, honor, incite, inspirit, rally, reassure, uphold
Scrabble Score: 10
abash: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordabash: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
abash: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary