Shamelessly means doing something without embarrassment or regret, even when most people would feel ashamed. When someone acts shamelessly, they don't seem to care what others think about their behavior.

Sometimes this word describes behavior that's genuinely wrong or inappropriate. A student who copies homework shamelessly shows no guilt about breaking the rules. A child who lies shamelessly about breaking a vase isn't bothered by deceiving their parents.

But the word can also describe harmless actions done with complete confidence. Someone might shamelessly ask for seconds at dinner, or shamelessly sing along to their favorite song in public. A fan might shamelessly cheer for a team everyone else dislikes. In these cases, “shamelessly” means doing something enthusiastically without worrying about judgment or criticism.

The key to understanding shamelessly is recognizing that it describes an attitude: the person either doesn't feel shame when they probably should, or they refuse to feel ashamed of something they enjoy, even if others disapprove. A shameless person is someone who acts this way regularly. Whether that's admirable confidence or troubling behavior depends entirely on what they're actually doing.