Shameful or Shameless?
The same or different?
- This is just another shameless attempt by the Opposition to gain power at any cost.
- Lewis is shameless in making promises he doesn't intend to keep.
- Each time I met this shameless fellow, my first instinct was to slap him and tell him to get lost.
- And when I think of the shameless way he lied to all of us...
shameless: not seeming to be ashamed of your bad behaviour although other people think you should be ashamed
- It’s shameful the way some people treat their pets.
- Susan felt bad that she had hurt Jason but she quickly held back shameful tears so she could speak. (if tears are shameless, then they should feel ashamed)
- This is a shameful waste of our natural resources.
- This may be shameful, but it's genuinely impossible not to laugh.
shameful: shameful behaviour or actions are so bad that someone should feel ashamed
"Shameful" can have two meanings that almost seem like antonyms, but they're not, depending on whether it's applied to a person or an act.
If it's applied to a person, it generally means that they feel remorse.
If it's applied to an act, it means that whoever is performing the action should feel shame.
However, it's often used to emphasise that the person should feel shame, but doesn't. In this latter sense, it can almost seem like "shameful" means the same thing as "shameless".
Note the Google results:
Shameless lack of work ethicA shameless lack of blame at Patten's BBC...
If the Prime Minister had not resorted to that shameless lack of candour, she could hardly have remained Prime Minister and would ...
Shameful lack of respect by tourists...
The story of the United States' shameful lack of support for...
The Western European politicians and journalists have a shameful lack of knowledge and of history.
