Meanings
- obsoleteuncountableSomething used to conceal infamy.
O impudence! O rogue! O villain! Nay, if he be such a man, my righteous spirit rises at him! Does he put on holy garments, for a cover-shame of lewdness?
1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Friar, act 3, scene 2; republished in The Works of John Dryden, volume 6, Edinburgh: Archibold Constable and Co., 1821, page 4282 more examples
Give place then exprobrating fruit, and come / Thou Cover-shame, old Fig-tree, in the Room: / Though men of all the fruit, that hangs o'th' tree, / Should love none less for your obscurity
1659, Edmund Gayton, chapter 31, in The Art of LongevityIf this were believed, men would make more account of sincerity, which will only give us boldness, and not seek for cover-shames; the confidence whereof, as it maketh men now more presumptuous, so it will expose them hereafter to the greater shame.
1838, Richard Sibbes, chapter 25, in The Bruised Reed and Smoking Flax, page 122 - uncountableA plant, savin (Juniperus sabina), which was historically used as both a contraceptive and to induce abortions.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
Cite this entry
cover-shame. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cover-shame
“cover-shame.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cover-shame. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cover-shame,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cover-shame.
Source: cover-shame on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.