English▸ verb [with object] make (someone) feel embarrassed, disconcerted, or ashamed:
if anything was officially done or said to him, it did not abash him
they have taken great delight in abashing critics.
– ORIGIN Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French abaiss-; compare with Old French esbaiss-, lengthened stem of esbair, from es- ‘utterly’ + bair ‘astound’.