bashful
[ˈbæʃfəɫ]adjective
bashful is spelled B-A-S-H-F-U-L: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 50,539th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, bashful means “Shy; not liking to be noticed; socially timid” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in bashful?
| Letters | 7: B-A-S-H-F-U-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 50,539th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is bashful?
Bashful appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 50,539th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bashful?
- [ˈbæʃfəɫ]
- [ˈbæʃfʊɫ]
Bashful has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-bashful.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of bashful
- more bashful comparative
- most bashful superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bashful mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Shy; not liking to be noticed; socially timid.
- 2
Indicating bashfulness.
a bashful look
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bashful in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense inclined to avoid notice:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bashful come from?
16th-century apheresis of abashed + -ful (“full of”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).