vergüenza

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish berguença, from Latin verēcundia, from verēcundus (“feeling shame”), from vereor (“to respect, revere, fear”). Doublet of vergüeña, a now obsolete synonym which followed a different evolution path from the same Latin term, and the rare borrowing verecundia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /beɾˈɡwenθa/ [beɾˈɣ̞wẽn̟.θa] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /beɾˈɡwensa/ [beɾˈɣ̞wẽn.sa] (Latin America, Philippines)

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -enθa (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• Rhymes: -ensa (Latin America, Philippines)
• Syllabification: ver‧güen‧za

Noun

vergüenza f (plural vergüenzas)

1. shame

   Synonyms: pudor, acholo

2. embarrassment

   Synonyms: (Latin America) pena, (Peru) palta

Derived terms

• avergonzar
• la de la vergüenza
• sinvergüenza
• vergonzante
• vergonzoso
• vergüenza ajena

Related terms

• reverencia
• sinvergonzonería

Further reading

• “vergüenza”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025