MEANING
1. Looking dejected or ashamed, as though aware of having done something wrong.
2. Frightened into a timid, submissive manner rather than openly resisting.
Use it for
describing a guilty expression; showing shame without an admission; giving a character a chastened appearance; describing someone returning after a mistakeCombines a visibly lowered, guilty manner with a second, fear-induced submissiveness; more specific than general sadness. Writing functions: Characterization / Shame.
Words that belong together
- a hangdog expression
- a hangdog look
- a hangdog air
On the page
He returned the broken watch with a hangdog expression.
The assistant hovered by the door, hangdog and silent after the accusation.
Before the overseer, even the loudest workers adopted a hangdog manner.
She disliked the hangdog air he assumed whenever his father entered.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- hangdog
Usage notes
Adjective, commonly before a noun: a hangdog look or expression. No ordinary comparative or superlative inflection. Register: neutral. Commonness: uncommon (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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