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The Difference Between Abashed and Unabashed
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).
Examples of unabashed in a Sentence
Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 28 Jan. 2025
Most upsetting is the unabashed exploitation of domestic violence survivors’ stories to silence a woman who asked for safety.
—Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, 25 Jan. 2025
In this project in particular, the unabashed truth — the dirt and the grit and the brutality — all comes together.
—Abbey White, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Jan. 2025
An unabashed conservative, Macaluso voted for the board members who are now trying to cut his neighborhood out of the district.
—Cody Copeland and, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for unabashed 
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Cite this Entry
“Unabashed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unabashed. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.
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