shaming

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adjective

sham·​ing ˈshā-miŋ 

: causing feelings of shame

The facts are too shaming for a proud nation to remember.

—Niger Calder

… for me it's a shaming reminder that for five and a half months I let a man call me "Baby Bear" …

—Tina Brown

What happened at Enron … was indeed a shaming episode in the history of US capitalism.

—Geoffrey Owen

… books that if they are left unread are truly shaming …

—Jeff Reid

shamingly adverb

I was reduced to ringing. Got the answering machine. Her voice—but insultingly impersonal, shamingly stilted.

—Michael Frayn

shaming

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noun

plural shamings

: the act or activity of subjecting someone to shame, disgrace, humiliation, or disrepute especially by public exposure or criticism

Other times they would take more aggressive measures, tracking down and exposing the identities of supposed wrongdoers who the group felt had not been brought to justice. Public shaming is a standard tool for this kind of activism …

—Emily Bazelon

Between 1957 and 1961, he … managed to rig the outcomes of at least 43 [college basketball] games, leading to the arrests of 37 players and the shaming of several others.

—Eric Konigsberg

As the parade of … public shamings on Capitol Hill has shown …, the wealthy may not be universally loved, but they're America's favorite spectacle.

—James Poniewozik

Examples of shaming in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Oprah Winfrey continues to open up about the dangers of diet culture and her own experiences with weight shaming and fatphobia. —Amber Corrine, VIBE.com, 27 June 2024

The Danger of Public Shaming in the Internet Age The ritual of public shaming is nothing new. —JSTOR Daily, 24 June 2024

While TikTok can be a hub for shaming and negativity, this one has blissfully validating comments from people who have been there, done that, and drank that water with some non-traditional methods. —Beth Ann Mayer, Parents, 22 June 2024

Other accusations included targeting specific players for daily bullying, weight shaming and racially insensitive remarks. —Rachel Roberts, Idaho Statesman, 31 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1741, in the meaning defined above

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing shaming

• body shaming
• fat shaming