embarrassing
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Explanation
Use the adjective embarrassing to describe something that is shameful or humiliating. You probably have a few embarrassing stories that you'd rather not remember, but your siblings are always happy to bring them up at holidays. It's really embarrassing how many people misspell embarrassing. The word has two r's and two s's but you might forget and leave one of them out. Imagine how embarrassing it would be if you were winning the third grade spelling bee and got the word embarrassing wrong. You know everyone would be talking about it. How embarrassing!
Vocabulary lists containing embarrassing
Awkward Moments
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Schooled
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Neighborhood Odes
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"The letters themselves are really embarrassing, and if I was to make something up it wouldn't have all that excruciatingly awful stuff in it."
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
The Roadster demo “was an engineering flex with no commercial value beyond embarrassing traditional car makers,” Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, wrote on X.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
The lie collapsed with almost embarrassing speed, and the people who spread it now face potential legal exposure.
From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2026
Not great for the Chargers that the Seahawks are coming off an embarrassing loss at Washington.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
I’d elbowed his chest, a warning not to encourage my mom’s obsession for embarrassing costumes.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
