sheepish[adjective]Synonyms: embarrassed, abashed, ashamed, mortified, self-conscious, shamefaced
English Thesaurus: embarrassed, self-conscious, uncomfortable, awkward, sheepish, ... [TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲
sheep‧ish /ˈʃiːpɪʃ/
adjective slightly uncomfortable or embarrassed because you know that you have done something silly or wrong:
Sam looked a bit sheepish. a sheepish grin—sheepishly adverb:
She smiled sheepishly. [TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲
embarrassed feeling uncomfortable or nervous and worrying about what people think of you, for example because you have made a silly mistake, or because you have to talk or sing in public:
I was really embarrassed when I arrived at the party an hour early. There’s no need to be embarrassed – you’ve got a lovely voice.self-conscious embarrassed about your body or the way you look or talk:
Paul had always been self-conscious about his big feet.uncomfortable unable to relax because you are embarrassed and not sure what to say or do:
There was a long silence and everyone at the table looked uncomfortable.awkward /ˈɔːkwəd $ ˈɒːkwərd/ feeling embarrassed because you are in a situation in which it is difficult to behave naturally:
Teenagers often feel awkward in formal social situations. There were some awkward moments when neither of us knew what to say to each other.sheepish slightly embarrassed because you know that you have done something silly or because you feel a little guilty:
Nigel came in late looking sheepish and apologetic.red-faced embarrassed or ashamed – used mainly in newspaper reports:
A judge was left red-faced when his mobile phone rang in court.mortified [not before noun] extremely embarrassed and ashamed because you realize that you have done something very silly or wrong:
He said he was mortified at the way his comments had been reported in the papers. [TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲