embarrass

English

Etymology

From French embarrasser (“to block, to obstruct”), from Spanish embarazar, either

• from Portuguese embaraçar, from em- (“in”) (from Latin im-) + baraça (“noose, rope”), related to Celtic barr (“tuft”), or
• from Italian imbarazzare, from imbarazzo (“obstacle, obstruction”), from imbarrare (“to block, to bar”), from im- (“in”) + barra (“bar”), from Vulgar Latin barra, of unknown origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪmˈbæ.ɹəs/, SAMPA: /Im"b{r@s/
• (mary-merry-marry merged) IPA: /ɪmˈbe.ɹəs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  Rhymes: -ærəs

Verb

embarrass (third-person singular simple present embarrasses, present participle embarrassing, simple past and past participle embarrassed)

1. (transitive) to humiliate; to disrupt somebody's composure or comfort with acting publicly or freely; to disconcert; to abash

   The crowd's laughter and jeers embarrassed him.

Synonyms

• (humiliate): abash, discomfit, disconcert, humiliate, shame
• See also Wikisaurus:abash

Derived terms

• embarrassment

Translations

to humiliate; to disrupt somebody's composure or comfort with acting publicly or freely

Arabic: اخجل (’áxjala) Bulgarian: смущавам (bg), обърквам (bg) Chinese: 使困窘 (shǐ kùnjiǒng) Dutch: verlegen maken (nl), in verlegenheid brengen (nl) Finnish: nolostuttaa (fi) French: embarrasser (fr) German: verlegen machen (de) Hungarian: zavarba hoz (hu)

Italian: imbarazzare (it) Japanese: 困らせる (こまらせる, komaraseru) Korean: 난처하다 (nancheohada), 창피 주다 (changpi juda) Portuguese: embaraçar (pt) Russian: смущать (ru) (smuščát’) Spanish: avergonzar (es) Swedish: genera (sv)

External links

• embarrass in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• embarrass in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911