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 WebAtlanta-area District Attorney Fani Willis is unabashed in using rap lyrics to help prosecute her cases, repeatedly defending the practice in recent months. Eliott C. Mclaughlin, CNN, 31 Aug. 2022 Emerging designer Jordan Gogos’s extravagant sophomore show was an unabashed celebration of color and kitsch with 15 monumental sculpture and 60 collaborators.Vogue, 17 May 2022 Here’s someone who’s an unabashed fan of his industry. John Tamny, Forbes, 6 July 2022 Italian right-wing politician Matteo Salvini, an unabashed Putin fan, has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine but cannot bring himself to criticize his hero by name. William A. Galston, WSJ, 8 Mar. 2022 And the unabashed love for one another is rampant in the whoops and cheers and words of encouragement down the line of cyclists, along every hill and nearly every mile. Kayla Dwyer, The Indianapolis Star, 18 Apr. 2022 Hawkins showed off his unabashed love for Cheap Trick-style power-pop and Queen-level arena rock pomp on the debut album with solo project the Coattail Riders. Jonathan Cohen, Variety, 26 Mar. 2022 Hawkins was rock’s greatest superfan, and his unabashed love for the genre went way beyond the core classic-rock cannon. Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 26 Mar. 2022 Rory McIlroy becomes unabashed leader of PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf ahead of US Open Time for answers from NFL? Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY, 15 June 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English unabaiste, from un- + abaiste, past participle of abaissen, abaishen to abash