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sheepish

adjective/ˈʃiːpɪʃ/

B1CEFR level
30/100Rarity: fairly common
NeutralRegister

Showing embarrassment from shyness or shame, especially after doing something foolish.

With a sheepish grin, he admitted that he had forgotten their anniversary again.

Similar: abashed, embarrassed, bashful

Topic: Emotion & the inner life in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: Emotion & the inner life