Two uncomfortable feelings share this topic. Regret comes from knowing you did wrong: you feel sorry and want to make it right. Embarrassment comes from being seen doing something silly: your face goes red and you wish you could disappear.
Key idea
Sorry for a wrong: remorse, contrite, penitent, compunction, rueful, and the verb atone (make up for it). Embarrassed: sheepish and abashed (mild), chagrin (embarrassed and annoyed), mortified (deeply embarrassed).
Several of these words hold sharp Latin pictures: remorse is a wrong that keeps biting you, contrite means crushed, and compunction is a prick of guilt, like a pin.
The ten words
Common mistake
chagrin mixes embarrassment with annoyance. "Without compunction" means without any guilt.
| word | feeling | strength |
|---|---|---|
| sheepish, abashed | embarrassed about something silly | mild |
| chagrin | embarrassed and annoyed | medium |
| mortified | embarrassed enough to want to vanish | strong |
| rueful | regretful, with a wry smile | mild |
| contrite, penitent | sorry and ready to make up for it | medium |
| remorse | guilt that will not stop biting | strong |
You will often meet compunction in the negative: someone who acts without compunction or with no compunction feels no guilt at all. And to atone is what a penitent person does: make up for the wrong.