hangdog

See also: hang-dog and hang dog

English

Etymology

hang +‎ dog

Noun

hangdog (plural hangdogs)

1. A base, degraded person; a sneak; a gallows bird.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:gallows bird

Translations

A base, degraded person

• Bulgarian: подлец (bg) m (podlec), обесник (bg) m (obesnik)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Adjective

hangdog (not comparable)

1. Low; sneaking; ashamed.
   • (Can we date this quote?), Thackeray

     The poor colonel went out of the room with a hangdog look.

   • 1951, Isaac Asimov, Foundation (1974 Panther Books Ltd publication), part V: “The Merchant Princes”, chapter 16, page 180:

     Asper Argo, the Well-Beloved, Commdor of the Korellian Republic greeted his wife’s entry by a hangdog lowering of his scanty eyebrows. To her at least, his self-adopted epithet did not apply. Even he knew that.

Translations

sneaking; ashamed

• Bulgarian: гузен (bg) (guzen), виновен (bg) (vinoven)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Further reading

• “hangdog”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.