- present participle of embarrass.
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.
Is it, as younger generations might argue, simply being embarrassing?
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026
They are decidedly un-classic: Billie’s desperation to scrub her embarrassing social-media history before a job interview, for instance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
They also called the venue "embarrassing to the Nation's Capital".
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
We’ll see what the justices say, but at least it seems likely that this embarrassing chapter of California election history will end in favor of the law, and democracy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
This was merely embarrassing but then—being prodded a bit too energetically by the attorney—he suddenly and quite without warning lost his head.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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.
