Word family noun embarrassment adjective embarrassed embarrassing verb embarrass adverb embarrassingly
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishembarrassem‧bar‧rass /ɪmˈbærəs/ ●●○ verb [transitive] 1 EMBARRASSEDto make someone feel ashamed, nervous, or uncomfortable, especially in front of other people He didn’t want to embarrass her by asking questions.2 PPEMBARRASSEDto do something that causes problems for a government, political organization, or politician, and makes them look bad The revelations in the press have embarrassed the government.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
embarrass• But the Government has been severely embarrassed by the burgeoning cost of the programme.• I was embarrassed for a moment by my immodesty.• One woman was trying to embarrass me by asking me questions I couldn't answer.• The release of these secret documents has embarrassed the administration.• It will only embarrass the Church.• They'd do it deliberately to embarrass the Government.• I hope I didn't embarrass you in front of your friends.• I hope my little dance didn't embarrass you.Origin embarrass (1600-1700) French embarrasser, from Spanish embarazar, perhaps from Vulgar Latin barra “bar” 