blate

Meaning

Adj

1. Bashful, sheepish.
2. Dull, stupid.

Verb

Archaic form of bleat.

Synonyms

bashful

sheepish

bleat

baa

blat

timid

fearful

😨

lily-livered

mousey

mousy

pusillanimous

sensitive

shamefaced

shy

sore

tender

timorous

unadventurous

poor-spirited

trepid

verecund

white-livered

apprehensive

shamefast

backward

chickenhearted

diffident

faint

faint-hearted

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bleɪt/

Etymology

Borrowed from Scots blate (“timid, sheepish”), apparently a conflation of:
* Northern Middle English *blate, *blait (“pale, ghastly, terrified”), from Old English blāt (“pale, livid, ghastly”), from Proto-West Germanic *blait (“pale, discoloured”), from Proto-Germanic *blaitaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyd- (“pale, pallid”);
* Middle English bleth, bleath (“timid, soft”), from Old English blēaþ (“gentle, shy, cowardly, timid; slothful, inactive, effeminate”), from Proto-Germanic *blauþuz (“weak, timid, void, naked”).
Cognate with German blassen (“to make pale”), bleich (“pale, pallid”). More at bleak, bleach.