Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Feeling ashamed, embarrassed, or humiliated: Describes the state of feeling awkward, ashamed, or put to the blush due to a situation that causes loss of face, disappointment, or ridicule. It often arises from being rejected, failing to meet expectations, or being the subject of scorn.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Hắn bị một phen bẽ mặt. (He was incidentally put to the blush.)
  • Đi vay bị từ chối, bẽ quá. (Going to borrow money and being rejected was so embarrassing.)
  • Ông ta từ chối, mình cảm thấy bẽ quá. (He refused, I felt terribly ashamed/embarrassed.)

Advanced Usage

• "bẽ bàng": A more emphatic and literary variant expressing deep shame, humiliation, or a profound sense of being let down.

  • Sau lời từ chối công khai, cô ấy cảm thấy vô cùng bẽ bàng. (After the public rejection, she felt deeply humiliated.)

• "bẽ mặt" / "bẽ mặt bẽ mày": To be ashamed, to lose face. This idiom directly relates to the feeling of shame visible on one's face.

  • Thất bại trước đối thủ yếu hơn khiến đội bóng bẽ mặt. (Losing to a weaker opponent made the football team lose face.)

Variants and Related Words

• Bẽ bàng (adj): Deeply ashamed, humiliated, crestfallen.
• Bẽn (adj, dialectal/rural): Shy, bashful, timid. (Note: This is a distinct, though phonetically similar, word meaning shyness rather than shame from rejection).
• Hổ thẹn (adj): Ashamed (often with a stronger moral connotation).
• Ngượng (adj): Embarrassed, awkward, shy (a more general term for embarrassment).

Synonyms

• Xấu hổ: To be ashamed, embarrassed.
• Ngại ngùng: To feel awkward, hesitant, shy.
• Mất mặt: To lose face.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Bẽ mặt bẽ mày: (Idiom) To be thoroughly ashamed or humiliated.

  • Lời nói của anh ta khiến tôi bẽ mặt bẽ mày. (His words made me utterly ashamed.)

• Bẽ lẽ: To be at a loss for words due to shame or embarrassment; to be confounded.

  • Bị phát hiện nói dối, nó đứng bẽ lẽ không nói được gì. (Caught lying, he stood confounded, unable to say anything.)

adj

1. Feeling ashamed, put to the blush
   • hắn bị một phen bẽ mặt
     he was incidentally put to the blush