bashfulnessn.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > timidity > be timorous [phrase] > timid shrinking back from
bashfulness of1534
1534 R. Whittington tr. Cicero Thre Bks. Tullyes Offyces i. sig. F.3 One parte of honesty..in the whiche is a basshfulnes of dishonesty.
1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge To Rdr. Led by such a clue of understanding, and softened by such a bashfulness of knowledge, that we may be wise and awful both in one.
2. The quality of being bashful adj. (see sense 2).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > humility > modesty > shyness or bashfulness > [noun]
shamefastnessc1200
shamefulnessa1340
nicetya1387
scurna1400
bashednessc1440
bashfulness1539
nicenessc1550
shamefacedness1555
to lie aback1636
shyness1651
squeamishness1720
shrinkingness1835
1539 R. Taverner tr. Erasmus Prouerbes f. xxvj Cast awaye bashfulnes where nede constrayneth.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. ii. 287 Haue you no modesty, no maiden shame, No touch of bashfulnesse ? View more context for this quotation
1603 King James VI & I in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. i. 244 III. 80 Awaye with chyldishe bashefullnes.
1792 M. Wollstonecraft Vindic. Rights Woman vii. 277 Modesty is the graceful calm virtue of maturity; bashfulness, the charm of vivacious youth.
1814 W. Scott Waverley II. xix. 288 An air of bashfulness, which was in reality the effect of want of habitual intercourse with the world. View more context for this quotation
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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n.1534