How to say “shame” in 37 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- vergüenza/beɾˈɡwenθa/ Spanish
- 미안[mia̠n] Korean
- शर्म/ʃəɾm/ Hindi
- בושה/buˈʃa/ Hebrew
- სირცხვილი[siɾt͡sʰχʷili] Georgian
- ամոթ/ɑˈmotʰ/ Armenian
“shame” in Spanish: vergüenza · French: honte · Italian: vergogna · Portuguese: vergonha · Korean: 미안 · Hindi: शर्म
It is commonest in Korean, where 미안 is the 247th most used word.
Shame in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans skande/ˈskɐndə/ disgrace, shame #633
- Albanian marre/marɛ/ #775
- Armenian ամոթ/ɑˈmotʰ/ #302
- Basque lotsa/lot͡s̺a/ #596
- Bosnian sramota/sramǒta/ shame, disgrace #1,487
- Bulgarian срам[sram] shame, disgrace #1,528
- Catalan vergonya[bərˈɡo.ɲə] #1,002
- Chinese 羞辱/ɕi̯oʊ̯⁵⁵ ɻu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ humiliation; shame #1,551
- Croatian sramota/sramǒta/ shame, disgrace #1,864
- Czech škoda[ˈʃkoda] pity, shame #1,046
- English ashamed/əˈʃeɪmd/ Feeling shame or guilt #2,000
- Esperanto fi/fi/ For shame! #1,875
- Estonian häbi/ˈhæb̥i/ #994
- French honte/ɔ̃t/ #1,006
- Galician vergoña/beɾˈɡoɲa/ #984
- Georgian სირცხვილი[siɾt͡sʰχʷili] shame, blemish, disgrace, opprobrium,… #636
- Greek κρίμα/ˈkrima/ Indicates pity or shame #883
- Hebrew בושה/buˈʃa/ #1,671
- Hindi शर्म/ʃəɾm/ #1,119
- Icelandic skömm[ˈskœm(ː)] #1,547
- Italian vergogna/verˈɡoɲ.ɲa/ shame, disgrace, discredit, scandal #2,457
- Korean 미안[mia̠n] shame; being sorry #247
- Latvian kauns[kàwns] shame act, action #1,635
- Lithuanian gėda[¹ˈɡʲeːdɐ] #616
- Macedonian срам[sram] shame, embarrassment #1,423
- Malayalam നാണക്കേട്/n̪aːɳɐkkeːɖɨ/ insult, shame #885
- Norwegian fy/ˈfyː/ phew, shame; interjection expressing… #1,260
- Persian خجالت[xe.d͡ʒɒː.lǽt̪ʰ] embarrassment; shame; bashfulness; shyness #858
- Portuguese vergonha/veʁˈɡõ.ɲɐ/ #1,382
- Serbian sramota/sramǒta/ shame, disgrace #1,405
- Slovak škoda/ʃkɔda/ pity, shame #624
- Spanish vergüenza/beɾˈɡwenθa/ #1,644
- Swedish fy/fyː/ shame, phew, fie; interjection expressing… #2,104
- Tagalog kahihiyan/kahihiˈan/ shame; embarrassment; humiliation; loss of… #1,261
- Tamil அசிங்கம்/ɐtʃɪŋɡɐm/ shame, obscenity #975
- Turkish yazık/jaˈzɯk/ pity, shame, regret #764
- Urdu شرم/ʃəɾm/ #733
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0) and Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.