Is this sentence correct?

[ltcuoi]

Caught listening to her sister's conversation, Jen was ABASH and quickly put down the receiver.

I have two questions regarding the sentence above: First, what part of speech is the word ABASH used (verb?). Second, shouldn't the word ABASH be used in the past tense (ABASHED) instead of the presence's (ABASH)?

Thanks in advance for making things clear!

[Robert B. Mercer]

Caught listening to her sister's conversation, Jen was ABASH and quickly put down the receiver.

should be

...Jen was ABASHED... ABASHED is an adjective, not a verb. ABASHED is embarrassed, uneasy, feeling bad about the bad thing you just did.

"Jen was abashed when her teacher saw her cheating on the test."

"When Jen looked in the mirror and saw how drunk she was, her dirty hair, her torn clothes, she was abashed and swore she would never drink this much again."

Common word in writing, but I have never heard it spoken.

[ltcuoi]

Originally Posted by Robert B. Mercer

Caught listening to her sister's conversation, Jen was ABASH and quickly put down the receiver.

should be

...Jen was ABASHED... ABASHED is an adjective, not a verb. ABASHED is embarrassed, uneasy, feeling bad about the bad thing you just did.

"Jen was abashed when her teacher saw her cheating on the test."

"When Jen looked in the mirror and saw how drunk she was, her dirty hair, her torn clothes, she was abashed and swore she would never drink this much again."

Common word in writing, but I have never heard it spoken.

That's odd. The word abash is listed as a verb in the dictionary. In any case, could you give an example of using the word abash as a verb?

[mykwyner]

This word abash as a verb is archaic in writing and extinct in speech, like RBM said. The only time you see it is as its participle, abashed. That word so rare that I'd guess that only about one-tenth of all English-speakers know what it means.

[Robert B. Mercer]

Thanks for saving my bacon, mykwaner... your explanation is right on the money; the verb To Abash is, as you succinctly said, archaic in writing... although tomorrow, to make up for my less-than-complete posting, I'm going to try to work in into a sentence... "Gee, boss, you're kinda abashing poor Cindy, aren't you? After you abashed me, of course..."

Sort of reminds me of that Christmas Carrol The Wassail Song, "Here we go a'bashing among the leaves so green..."