sheepishness
1
5.6
- noun
- /ˈʃipɪʃnəs/
:
timidez
- He felt a wave of sheepishness when he realized he had forgotten her birthday.
Examples
-
"Her sheepishness is more coy than sincere.
Fiction book (2002) -
We realize—in sheepishness and consternation—how readily we assumed that this French-speaking resident of Paris, hero of a novel published in French by a prestigious French publishing house, was himself French.
Academic text (1997) -
"The fawning, which in Homer conveys the emasculation of her victims' bewitched condition, returns here as contemptible domesticity, tameness, loss of individuality, sheepishness.
Academic text (1997) -
Her sheepishness was evident as she apologized for her mistake in front of the whole class.
-
Mark's sheepishness showed when he admitted he had indeed fallen asleep during the movie.
Synonyms
219
3.1
A feeling of awkwardness or shame
21
2.8
Feeling nervous and uncomfortable around other people
1
3.9
Being shy and easily embarrassed around other people
A feeling of being embarrassed and sorry after you do something wrong
Antonyms
How Embarrassed
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Sheepishness comes from the animal sheep plus the endings -ish and -ness. Because sheep are seen as quiet and timid, -ish means 'like', as in childish, and -ness makes a 'state', as in kindness, so sheepishness is the state of feeling 'shy' or 'embarrassed'.