schämen

See also: schamen

German

Etymology

From Middle High German schamen, schemen, from Old High German scamēn, from Proto-Germanic *skamjaną (“to be ashamed”), equivalent to Scham (shame) +‎ -en. More at shame.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃɛːmən/, [-mən], [-mn̩] (standard; used naturally in western Germany and Switzerland)
• IPA^(key): /ˈʃeː-/ (overall more common; particularly northern and eastern regions)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: schä‧men

Verb

1. (reflexive) to be ashamed or embarrassed

   Ich schäme mich für meine Wohnung.

   I am ashamed of my apartment.

   Du solltest dich schämen.

   You should be ashamed.

   Sie wollte, dass ihre Tochter stolz ist auf ihre ausländischen Wurzeln und sich ihrer nicht schämt.

   She wanted her daughter to be proud of her foreign roots and not be ashamed of them

Usage notes

It was previously usual for the verb sich schämen to be followed by a genitive object (ich schäme mich meiner Vergangenheit); nowadays however, this generally substituted by a prepositional object following für or also wegen (ich schäme mich für meine Vergangenheit), except sometimes in elevated writing.

Derived terms

• fremdschämen

Related terms

• Scham

Further reading

• “schämen” in Duden online
• “schämen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache