To abash someone is to shake up their self-possession, as illustrated by Charlotte Brontë in her 1849 novel Shirley: "He had never blushed in his life; no humiliation could abash him." When you are unabashed you make no apologies for your behavior (nor do you attempt to hide or disguise it), but when you are abashed your confidence has been thrown off and you may feel rather inferior or ashamed of yourself. English speakers have been using abashed to describe feelings of embarrassment since the 14th century, but they have only used unabashed (brazenly or otherwise) since the 15th century (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
She is an unabashed supporter of the president's policies. unabashed by their booing and hissing, he continued with his musical performance
Recent Examples on the WebShawna Mannon’s lawsuit painted Cordova as an unabashed bully, one who reveled in the district’s lack of punishment and only doubled down on his actions.—Luca Evans, Orange County Register, 14 June 2024 There is unabashed enthusiasm for liquid biopsy tests in the medical device industry and some health systems.—Sanket S. Dhruva and Rita F. Redberg, STAT, 11 June 2024 The Line of Best Fit was more unabashed in its praise.—Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 18 Apr. 2020 Gill, who was the focus of the film Dumb Money, has been an unabashed GameStop bull for years, posting on Twitter/X as Roaring Kitty and on Reddit under the name DeepF—ingValue.—Bychris Morris, Fortune, 3 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for unabashed
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unabashed.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Middle English unabaiste, from un- + abaiste, past participle of abaissen, abaishen to abash
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