abashednessn.

c1480 (a1400) St. John Evangelist 347 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 119 Sancte Iohne ȝet but abaysitnes þe saymne drink..drank al oute.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 193 Abasshednesse, fraievr, s.f.

1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Psalmes of Dauid with Comm. (lxxv. 8) i. f. 286^v/2 Such great abasshednesse, declareth well that wee doo not yit thoroughly understand, what it is for the world too bee gouerned by God.

1666 N. Foxcroft Let. 11 Sept. in R. Boyle Corr. (2001) III. 222 I cannot but with much abashtnesse, & hesitancy of mind venture this presumption to your hands.

1840 J. Richardson Canad. Brothers I. viii. 104 While there was nothing of the abashedness of the inferior, there was also no offensive familiarity, in the occasional conversations held by him.

1902 Harper's Mag. Aug. 389/2 He said, with a sort of stern abashedness, for he had never spoken of such things to his daughter [etc.].

1924 D. Byrne in Metrop. Mag. (N.Y.) Aug. 17/2 There was no abashedness in his expression, but a great frankness.

2006 New Republic (Nexis) 17 Apr. 21 One of the most striking things about this show is the modest scale of so much of the work and its schoolboy abashedness.