Meaning
羞耻 refers to the feeling of shame or dishonor that arises from doing something wrong or failing to meet social or moral standards. It combines the sense of personal embarrassment (羞) with the concept of disgrace or dishonor (耻), creating a word that emphasizes deep moral or social humiliation.
Usage
羞耻 is typically used in more formal or literary contexts to describe serious shame or disgrace. In everyday conversation, speakers often use simpler words like 丢脸 (diū liǎn) or 不好意思 (bù hǎo yì si). When used as an adjective, it often appears in patterns like 羞耻的事 (shameful matter) or 感到羞耻 (to feel ashamed).
Examples
- 01他对自己的行为感到深深的羞耻。.He felt deep shame about his behavior.
- 02说谎是一件羞耻的事情。.Lying is a shameful thing.
Characters
Common collocations
- 感到羞耻to feel ashamed
- 羞耻心sense of shame
- 没有羞耻感to have no sense of shame
- 羞耻的行为shameful behavior
Antonyms
Origin
Both characters relate to shame in Chinese classical texts. 羞 originally depicted a person offering food with both hands, later developing the meaning of feeling shy or ashamed. 耻 combines the ear radical with a phonetic component, suggesting the shame one feels when hearing criticism.