Embarrass
name, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 to humiliate; to disrupt somebody's composure or comfort with acting publicly or freely; to abash. transitive
"The crowd's laughter and jeers embarrassed him."
- 2 cause to be embarrassed; cause to feel self-conscious wordnet
- 3 To hinder from liberty of movement; to impede; to obstruct. transitive
"The motion was advanced in order to embarrass the progress of the bill."
- 4 hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of wordnet
- 5 To involve in difficulties concerning money matters; to encumber with debt; to beset with urgent claims or demands. transitive
"A man or his business is embarrassed when he cannot meet his pecuniary engagements."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To perplex mentally; confuse, disconcert; catch off guard. formal, transitive
- 1 A river or settlement in the United States:; A river in Minnesota, a tributary of the Saint Louis River.
- 2 A river or settlement in the United States:; A river in Wisconsin, a tributary of the Wolf River.
- 3 A river or settlement in the United States:; A township in Edgar County, Illinois.
- 4 A river or settlement in the United States:; A township and unincorporated community therein, in St. Louis County, Minnesota.
- 5 A river or settlement in the United States:; A village in Waupaca County, Wisconsin, located on the above river.
Example
More examples"But showing off the presents could embarrass the guests who did not bring one."
Etymology
Borrowed from French embarrasser, from Middle French embarrasser, embarasser (“to embarrass; to block, obstruct”), from Spanish embarazar, either from Italian imbarazzare or from Portuguese embaraçar.
Apparently from French embarrasser (“block, impede, obstruct”). The name was probably applied to the rivers first.
More for "embarrass"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.