shame

noun (BAD FEELING)

/ʃeɪm/

Definition

C1 [U] an uncomfortable feeling of guilt or of being ashamed because of your own or someone else's bad behaviour: He said he felt no shame for what he had done. The children hung/bowed their heads in shame. The shame of the scandal was so great that he shot himself a few weeks later. You can't go out dressed like that - have you no shame (= don't you feel ashamed about being dressed like that)?Sadness and regret › [U] loss of honour and respect: He thinks there's great shame in being out of work and unable to provide for his family. In some societies, if a woman leaves her husband, it brings shame on her and her family.Humiliating and degrading put sb to shame › to make someone feel ashamed: It puts me to shame that I still haven't replied to David's letter.Sadness and regret to my shame › I feel ashamed because: To my shame, I never wrote and thanked Mary for her present.Sadness and regret shame on you › used to tell someone that they should feel sorry for something they did: Shame on you for being so unkind.humorous You mean you were in town and you didn't come and see us - shame on you!Humiliating and degrading

(Definition of shame noun (BAD FEELING) from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)