Meanings
comparative more shameless · superlative most shameless
- Having no shame, no guilt nor remorse over something considered wrong; immodest, brazen; unable to feel disgrace.
Synonyms: unshameable
- obsoleteNot subject to other people’s shaming or reproach.
Near-synonyms: blameless, unblameable
1 more example
He shall be as now nameles, But he shall not be blameles, Nor he shall not be shameles; For sure he wrought amys, […]
c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 62, lines 38–41Synonyms: blameless, unblameable
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveHaving no shame, no guilt nor remorse over something considered wrong; immodest, brazen; unable to feel disgrace.
adjectiveNot subject to other people’s shaming or reproach.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivefeeling no shame
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*skamō
- Proto-Indo-European*lewh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*lewHs-
- Proto-Germanic*leusaną
- Proto-Germanic*lausaz
- Proto-Germanic*skamōlausaz
- Proto-West Germanic*skamulaus
- Old Englishsċamlēas
- Middle Englishschameles
- Englishshameless
From Middle English schameles, shameles, from Old English sċamlēas, sċeamlēas (“without shame; shameless”), from Proto-Germanic *skamalausaz (“shameless”), equivalent to shame + -less. Cognate with West Frisian skamteleas (“shameless”), Dutch schaamteloos (“shameless”), German schamlos (“shameless”), Danish skamløs (“shameless”), Swedish skamlös (“shameless”), Icelandic skammlaus (“shameless; unashamed”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀναίσχυντος, ἀναιδής
- ἀναίσχυντος (anaískhuntos)having no shame
- ἀναιδής (anaidḗs)having no shame
Arabic وَقِح, صَفِيق
- وَقِح (waqiḥ)having no shame
- صَفِيق (ṣafīq)having no shame
- صَارِخ (ṣāriḵ)having no shame
- وَقَاح (waqāḥ)having no shame
Bulgarian безсра́мен, безсъ́вестен
- безсра́мен (bezsrámen)having no shame
- безсъ́вестен (bezsắvesten)having no shame
Catalan desvergonyit, pocavergonya
- desvergonyithaving no shame
- pocavergonyahaving no shame
Chinese Mandarin 無恥 /无耻, 恬不知恥的 /恬不知耻的
- 無恥 /无耻 (wúchǐ)having no shame
- 恬不知恥的 /恬不知耻的 (tiánbùzhīchǐ de)having no shame
- 不要臉的 /不要脸的 (bùyàoliǎn de)having no shame
- 厚顏無恥的 /厚颜无耻的 (hòuyánwúchǐ de)having no shame
Czech nestydatý, nestoudný
- nestydatýhaving no shame
- nestoudnýhaving no shame
Danish skamløs
- skamløshaving no shame
Dutch schaamteloos
- schaamtelooshaving no shame
Esperanto senhonta
- senhontahaving no shame
Estonian häbitu
- häbituhaving no shame
Finnish häpeilemätön
- häpeilemätönhaving no shame
French effronté, éhonté
- effrontéhaving no shame
- éhontéhaving no shame
- sans scrupuleshaving no shame
- sans vergognehaving no shame
German schamlos, unverschämt
- schamloshaving no shame
- unverschämthaving no shame
Greek ξεδιάντροπος
- ξεδιάντροπος (xediántropos)having no shame
Hebrew חֲסַר בּוּשָׁה
- חֲסַר בּוּשָׁה (ḥasar bushah)having no shame
Hindi निर्लज्ज, बेशर्म
- निर्लज्ज (nirlajj)having no shame
- बेशर्म (beśarm)having no shame
Hungarian szégyentelen
- szégyentelenhaving no shame
Indonesian tak tahu malu
- tak tahu maluhaving no shame
Irish dínáireach, mínáireach
- dínáireachhaving no shame
- mínáireachhaving no shame
- neamhnáireachhaving no shame
Italian sfacciato, spudorato
- sfacciatohaving no shame
- spudoratohaving no shame
- svergognatohaving no shame
Japanese 破廉恥な, 恥知らずな
- 破廉恥な (harenchi na)having no shame
- 恥知らずな (hajishirazu na)having no shame
- 厚かましい (atsukamashii)having no shame
Korean 뻔뻔하다, 뻔뻔스럽다
- 뻔뻔하다 (ppeonppeonhada)having no shame
- 뻔뻔스럽다 (ppeonppeonseureopda)having no shame
- 몰염치하다 (moryeomchihada)having no shame
Latin impudens
- impudenshaving no shame
Latvian nekaunīgs
- nekaunīgshaving no shame
Lithuanian begėdiškas
- begėdiškashaving no shame
Māori whakatoatoa
- whakatoatoahaving no shame
Norwegian Bokmål skamløs
- skamløshaving no shame
Persian بیشرم
- بیشرم (bi-šarm)having no shame
Polish bezwstydny, bezpruderyjny
- bezwstydnyhaving no shame
- bezpruderyjnyhaving no shame
Portuguese desavergonhado, sem-vergonha
- desavergonhadohaving no shame
- sem-vergonhahaving no shame
Romanian nerușinat
- nerușinathaving no shame
Russian бессты́дный, бессты́жий
- бессты́дный (besstýdnyj)having no shame
- бессты́жий (besstýžij)having no shame
- беззасте́нчивый (bezzasténčivyj)having no shame
- беспардо́нный (bespardónnyj)having no shame
- ни́зкий (nízkij)having no shame
- позо́рный (pozórnyj)having no shame
- бессо́вестный (bessóvestnyj)having no shame
Scottish Gaelic leamh
- leamhhaving no shame
Slovak nehanebný, nemravný
- nehanebnýhaving no shame
- nemravnýhaving no shame
Spanish desvergonzado, caradura
- desvergonzadohaving no shame
- caradurahaving no shame
- descaradohaving no shame
- impúdicohaving no shame
- relambidohaving no shame
- desfachatadohaving no shame
- atorrantehaving no shame
- conchudohaving no shame
Swedish skamlös
- skamlöshaving no shame
Tagalog walang hiya
- walang hiyahaving no shame
Thai ไร้ยางอาย, หน้าไม่อาย
- ไร้ยางอาย (rái-yaang-aai)having no shame
- หน้าไม่อาย (nâa-mâi-aai)having no shame
- หน้าด้าน (nâa-dâan)having no shame
- หน้าหนา (nâa-nǎa)having no shame
Turkish utanmaz, yüzsüz
- utanmazhaving no shame
- yüzsüzhaving no shame
- arsızhaving no shame
- pişkinhaving no shame
- hayasızhaving no shame
Ukrainian безсоро́мний, безсти́дний
- безсоро́мний (bezsorómnyj)having no shame
- безсти́дний (bezstýdnyj)having no shame
- безсоромі́тний (bezsoromítnyj)having no shame
Urdu بے شرم
- بے شرم (be-śarm)having no shame
Vietnamese trơ trẽn
- trơ trẽnhaving no shame
Welsh digywilydd
- digywilyddhaving no shame
Cite this entry
shameless. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shameless
“shameless.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shameless. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shameless,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shameless.
Source: shameless on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.