Describing someone with a guilty, ashamed, or miserable appearance, looking like a dog that's been scolded or neglected.
From 'hang' and 'dog,' referring to the posture of a dog that has been beaten or mistreated—head lowered, ears drooping, expression sad. Used since the 1600s to describe humans with a similarly dejected demeanor.
Shakespeare and other writers loved 'hangdog' to describe cowardly or guilty-looking villains, and the phrase perfectly captures how body language communicates shame—centuries later, we still use it because a dog's dejected posture is a universal symbol of guilt across cultures.
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