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
-
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
Super Bowl Blowout: Epic Vocab for the Big Game
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Commonly Misspelled Words, List 2
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
List 4
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
That does not just embarrass the network, it threatens the corporation itself.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026
Wells, took up the Rueggs’ cause, signing petitions and organizing an overseas publicity campaign designed to embarrass Chiang’s government for partisanship in its handling of the case.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
They resorted to the common, if infantile tactic of asking repeated simple but irrelevant questions in an attempt to embarrass their target.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
As a place that came of age with the automobile, Los Angeles is a sprawl of freeways with a public transport system that would embarrass any medium-sized European city.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
"And reason three,” Lindsey said, "is I gotta teach you how to shoot so you don't embarrass yourself.”
From "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green
Or from locking up Mick Cronin through 2030, even though UCLA’s prickly basketball coach embarrasses the university annually and hasn’t reached a Sweet 16 since 2023.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
I guess he is about 80, but the answer he gives embarrasses me.
From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2025
"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
“Philadelphia has so many amazing places and so many amazing people, it embarrasses me that this is the type of footage that is being used,” Lozada said.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 11, 2022
Me shrinking away from his touch embarrasses me in a way I don’t entirely understand.
From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy
But to be embarrassed, one must first get the chance to be embarrassed.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026
They told him a woman had transferred her life savings to someone she thought was him and was left totally embarrassed.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
Sometimes, people can feel embarrassed in the moment.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
His father, less a bully but now a user, had wheedled his way onto the set of “Rocky” and embarrassed him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Amy Post responded to Maggie and Leah’s embarrassed cries, and burst into the room to halt the examination.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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
But it is hard not to conclude that, despite efforts to play down the drama, this is an embarrassing episode for the UK.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
The Seahawks, defending Super Bowl champions, got a collective whiff of smelling salts before Sunday’s game, having suffered an embarrassing loss at Washington a week earlier.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
I also connected my personal Gmail account with “read only” access: It could see emails but couldn’t delete them or shoot off embarrassing notes to my entire address book.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Howard sang louder than anybody and, personally, I thought it was a little embarrassing, but nobody else seemed to pay him any mind.
From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
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.
