embarrass
Americanverb (used with object)
-
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)
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
Related Words
See confuse.
Other Word Forms
- embarrassed adjective
- embarrassedly adverb
- embarrassingly adverb
- preembarrass verb (used with object)
- unembarrassed adjective
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)
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.
It would also be embarrassing if the governor tried to muscle candidates aside and failed.
From Los Angeles Times
Too embarrassed to admit his mistake, he ends up pretending to tape their conversation.
Not long ago, most companies would have said little, leaving it to law-enforcement authorities to disclose such a potentially embarrassing revelation.
So what if she embarrassed me during the Q and A session?
From Literature
"He was so embarrassed about that back in the day, and now I've literally put it into song," she laughs.
From BBC
Definitions 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.
