shamefaced

Alteration (due to folk etymology: shame +‎ faced) of shamefast, from Middle English schamefast, schamfast, sceomefest, from Old English sċamfæst (“modest”), equivalent to shame +‎ fast. Synchronically with -faced (/ˈfeɪst/).

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃeɪmˌfeɪst/

shamefaced (comparative more shamefaced, superlative most shamefaced)

1. Bashful, showing modesty or embarrassment.
   • 1918 [1915], Thomas Burke, Nights in London‎^[1], New York: Henry Holt and Company:

     Youth is not glorious; it is shamefaced. It is a time of self-searching and self-exacerbation.

2. Ashamed, displaying shame, especially by blushing in the face.

• shamefaced crab
• shamefacedly
• shamefacedness

• “shamefaced” in Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary: Based on Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 7th edition, Springfield, Mass.: G[eorge] & C[harles] Merriam, 1963 (1967 printing), →OCLC.