English

abash

Meaning
Synonyms
Translations
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  1. (transitive) 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.
  2. (intransitive, obsolete) To lose self-possession; to become ashamed.

Opposite of
abet, animate, buoy, cheer, countenance, embolden, encourage, incite, inspirit, rally, reassure, uphold
Pronounced as (IPA)
/əˈbæʃ/
Etymology

Inherited from Middle English
abaisen
Cognate with French
French
badaud
In summary

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”).

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