(n.) A base, degraded person; a sneak; a gallows bird.
(a.) Low; sneaking; ashamed.
Example Sentences:
(1) The health secretary had spent part of the morning putting on a hangdog show of unity at a made-for-TV coalition health summit, with David Cameron and Nick Clegg doing most of the talking.
(2) If he was a cartoon character, he’d be … Put Droopy, with his jowly, hangdog expression, and Fred Flintstone, with his eternal optimism and large body mass, into a blender and you might come up with something akin to Sam.
(3) On Wednesday Yesterday Roux showed his mettle by directing firm, aggressive and piercing questions at the hangdog detective on the stand.
(4) "He was like, 'I've thrown parents in the pool before, don't make me throw you,'" says Tony, adopting a hangdog look and mimicking Murray in the lowest, most droll voice possible.
(5) Bill Murray does his usual stalwart job of looking hangdog, but it's impossible to get emotional about it as a viewer.
(6) Even the sympathy vote, the outsider status that Labour could have claimed by being in opposition, was sucked up by Nick Clegg’s lovely little hangdog expression.
(7) His hangdog face and cynical attitude are that of a man who can barely make it through any given day, let alone the same one repeated endlessly.
(8) My editor had asked me beforehand if I would ask as many celebrities as possible to take selfies with me at the parties and, to my amazement, most of them agree with enthusiasm, even those who have every right to be a bit naffed off with the Oscars – Richard Linklater, for one, is especially happy to have some selfie action at the ball, despite his somewhat hangdog-like smile after losing repeatedly to Iñárritu.
(9) He has a rather sad, hangdog expression - even when talking about his comeback.
(10) In his defence, nobody appealed – Waddle just got straight up with that hangdog gait – and on first viewing it was hard to be certain it was a penalty.
(11) He stands before you in a rumpled suit and a hangdog face, singing of mortgage payments, outsourcing and the threat of redundancy.
(12) The demeanour was no less hangdog, but Slaven Bilic’s words were upbeat at last as he was able to celebrate a rare home Premier League victory.
Shamefaced
Definition:
(n.) Easily confused or put out of countenance; diffident; bashful; modest.
Example Sentences:
(1) My pension is €942 euros a month – not too bad, really,” she said, almost shamefacedly, fishing the statement out of her handbag.
(2) And, when visiting London, Mandela invited us three sisters to come to lunch during which he spoke shamefacedly of how long he had been out of touch and how wrong this was – since he, with the death of Joe, had become our father.
(3) [Xavi pauses, adding quietly, almost shamefacedly] You know, often footballers don't think.
(4) Educated professionals, too shamefaced to want to speak, now stand in line with immigrants from developing countries waiting for food handouts from the town hall.
(5) The recent European elections saw support surge for the far-right Golden Dawn, backing grow for the leftwing party Syriza and the deep denial (or is it shamefaced acceptance?)
(6) Some, such as myself and Tony [now Lord] Greaves, met slightly shamefacedly in the streets of Rochdale, campaigning for a candidate regarded as uncomfortably to their right.
(7) Often their children's mental illness has been a well-kept secret or has been handled in a guilty and shamefaced way.
(8) I was rather surprised and shamefaced when, as I was still pushing my bike, we met a 75-year-old snowshoer who told me she’d been on a fatbike, and found it fine.
(9) He added: “These crass remarks would leave even Nigel Farage shamefaced.
(10) IMF left shamefaced after peak pessimism over Brexit vote Read more But while the Washington-based IMF said Britain would have a “soft landing” in 2016 with growth of 1.8%, it stuck to its view that the economy would eventually suffer from the shock EU referendum result and said expansion next year would be just 1.1% – lower than it expected in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote.
(11) It’s lovely here in the Stroud Valleys – or it is until your child reaches the second half of primary school, and everyday chats about school stuff with friends suddenly start to veer off into shamefaced mumbles about tutoring, and how if Charlie or Clara want to take the 11-plus with their mates, “then who are we to stop them?” You’re their parents, who make a heap of choices about your children’s lives based on your political beliefs, is my answer.