avergonzar

To shame or embarrass someone, almost always used reflexively — avergonzarse de algo — for feeling ashamed or embarrassed about something oneself: se avergüenza de su pasado. Stem-changing (avergüenzo, avergüenza) and requires a diaeresis on the u before e to preserve the /gw/ sound.

• Se avergonzó de haber llegado tarde a la boda. — He felt ashamed about arriving late to the wedding.
• No te avergüences de pedir ayuda cuando la necesites. — Don't be ashamed to ask for help when you need it.
• Sus comentarios avergonzaron a toda la familia. — His comments embarrassed the whole family.

Easy to misspell by dropping the diaeresis — avergüenzo, not *avergüenzo without the dots over the u — since without it the g would be pronounced hard before üe instead of keeping the /gw/ sound.

• quote "No me avergüenzo del evangelio" — Romans 1:16 in the Reina-Valera Bible translation ("Porque no me avergüenzo del evangelio, porque es poder de Dios para salvación a todo aquel que cree"), the Apostle Paul's well-known declaration, widely quoted in Spanish-language Christian preaching and writing.