Meaning & use
sheepish look
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A facial expression showing mild embarrassment because of a small mistake or silly behavior.
Grammar: Countable: he gave a sheepish look, a sheepish look crossed her face.
Patterns
- give someone a sheepish look
- with a sheepish look
He gave me a sheepish look when I found the broken cup.
With a sheepish look, she admitted she had forgotten the tickets.
The puppy had a sheepish look after tearing the cushion.
Word forms
| plural | sheepish looks |
|---|
Common combinations
- give a sheepish look
- He gave a sheepish look and apologized.
- with a sheepish look
- She came back with a sheepish look on her face.
- a sheepish look on his face
- A sheepish look on his face told us the truth.
- exchange sheepish looks
- The two boys exchanged sheepish looks.
- flash a sheepish look
- He flashed a sheepish look at the teacher.
Synonyms and how they differ
- embarrassed expression
- Embarrassed expression is more neutral, while sheepish look adds a hint of guilt about a small error.
- guilty look
- Guilty look suggests real wrongdoing, whereas sheepish look is lighter.
- shamefaced look
- Shamefaced look is stronger and suggests deeper shame than sheepish.
- hangdog expression
- Hangdog expression suggests misery and defeat, not just mild embarrassment.
Opposites
Word family
- sheepish adjective
- embarrassed because of a mistake
- sheepishly adverb
- in a mildly embarrassed way
- sheepishness noun
- the state of feeling mildly embarrassed
- sheep noun
- the farm animal
Commonly confused: sheepish look or sheepish?
sheepish look vs sheepish
Sheepish means embarrassed. It does not mean like a sheep in a general sense, and it does not mean easily led.
Practice
When the teacher caught him eating in class, Tom gave her a ____ and put the sandwich away.
Choose one answer.
A sheepish look shows mild embarrassment, which fits being caught doing something small. A triumphant or furious look does not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sheepish look”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.