embarrass
Americanverb (used with object)
-
embarrasses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
embarrassed,
past participle, past
-
embarrassing
present participle
-
to cause confusion and shame to; make uncomfortably self-conscious; disconcert; abash.
His bad table manners embarrassed her.
- Synonyms:
- chagrin, discomfit, discompose
-
to make difficult or intricate, as a question or problem; complicate.
-
to put obstacles or difficulties in the way of; impede.
The motion was advanced in order to embarrass the progress of the bill.
-
to beset with financial difficulties; burden with debt.
The decline in sales embarrassed the company.
verb (used without object)
-
embarrasses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
embarrassed,
past participle, past
-
embarrassing
present participle
verb
-
(also intr) to feel or cause to feel confusion or self-consciousness; disconcert; fluster
-
(usually passive) to involve in financial difficulties
-
archaic to make difficult; complicate
-
archaic to impede; obstruct; hamper
Synonym Usage
See confuse.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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preembarrassverb (used with object)
-
embarrassedadjective
-
unembarrassedadjective
-
embarrassedlyadverb
-
embarrassinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
embarrasssimple
-
embarrassessimple
-
have embarrassedperfect
-
has embarrassedperfect
-
am embarrassingprogressive
-
are embarrassingprogressive
-
is embarrassingprogressive
-
have been embarrassingperfect progressive
-
has been embarrassingperfect progressive
Past
-
embarrassedsimple
-
had embarrassedperfect
-
was embarrassingprogressive
-
were embarrassingprogressive
-
had been embarrassingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of embarrass
1665–75; < French embarrasser < Spanish embarazar < Portuguese embaraçar, equivalent to em- em- 1 + -baraçar, verbal derivative of baraço, baraça cord, strap, noose (of obscure origin)
Explanation
If you embarrass someone, you make them feel self-conscious, awkward, or even stupid. Your mom might embarrass you by inviting your date to check out your childhood photos. Embarrass actually has another meaning, but it's very rarely used: to blockade, hinder, obstruct, or stymie. Nowadays, we tend to embarrass one another (and ourselves) by pretty much sticking to the basics: making fun of our friends when they blunder, accidentally revealing secrets in public, confessing our undying love to people who don't even know we exist, and all the millions of creative and frustrating ways we have of making mistakes.
Vocabulary lists containing embarrass
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 2
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List 4
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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.
See Examples For:
More than revenge, Cassie wants to embarrass potential assailants and jolt them, however briefly, out of their repugnant misogyny.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
Beneath that story on the front page, a cartoon of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor reading Earl Spencer's book shows the former prince asking "how dare he embarrass the King! That's my job!"
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
This clearly sounds like a blazing hot take that will chill soon and embarrass often.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
Wainschel’s post, which was OK’d by his daughter on the condition he didn’t embarrass her, didn’t lead to a job but did result in productive conversations, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
“There's Wes again, in Level Four, Allen and Beatrice in Level Three, Grace in Level Two. They showed me yesterday so I wouldn't embarrass them.”
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
I guess he is about 80, but the answer he gives embarrasses me.
From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2025
No one embarrasses himself — it’s all polished, pleasant, anonymous and unobjectionable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2024
"The seizure of envelopes with money in the office of a person I chose hurts me... embarrasses me before the Portuguese and I have a duty to apologise," Costa said.
From Reuters ● Nov. 11, 2023
His invasion and behavior embarrasses many Russian speakers and makes them rethink their allegiance.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 17, 2023
The characters say something and mean something else, but the connection is so obvious it embarrasses the reader.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
Flain said West, a father of two, was "ashamed and embarrassed" and had been in debt and unable to meet basic living costs.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
I never want anybody to feel embarrassed or angry or blindsided when they’re talking to me.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
“I want him to be able to say when he’s scared, hurt, embarrassed or wrong without feeling like those things diminish him.”
From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2026
“I would be so embarrassed if I told you, ‘Well, now I’m going to try harder,’” McDaniel said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
Only the water tasted good to me, though I grew embarrassed at asking again and again to be taken outside.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
The governor intended to run for a third term but dropped out, so embarrassing is the scandal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
"Even when we go to the doctors, for me, the embarrassment of having to get undressed...with these doctors looking it is embarrassing," she says.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
I love the strange emotion in these songs — the feeling that you might as well say what you want because the only thing more embarrassing than taking a risk is not taking one.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 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
“We are fugitives. Or you could give us an invisibility potion like Chloe took after that embarrassing incident with the ghoul at the school dance. Did that really happen, Ms. DuForte?”
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
