Associations to the word «Hangdog»

Wiktionary

HANGDOG, noun. A base, degraded person; a sneak; a gallows bird.
HANGDOG, adjective. Low; sneaking; ashamed.

Dictionary definition

HANGDOG, adjective. Showing a sense of guilt; "a guilty look"; "the hangdog and shamefaced air of the retreating enemy"- Eric Linklater.
HANGDOG, adjective. Frightened into submission or compliance.

Wise words

Words are always getting conventionalized to some secondary meaning. It is one of the works of poetry to take the truants in custody and bring them back to their right senses.
William Butler Yeats