embarrassment en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
Etymology tree Akkadian 𒆟 (rakāsum) Akkadian 𒄙 (markasu)bor. Classical Syriac ܡܰܪܫܳܐ (maršā)bor. Arabic مَرَسَة (marasa)der. Old Galician-Portuguese baraço Old Galician-Portuguese embaraçarbor. Old Spanish embaraçar Spanish embarazarbor. French embarrasserbor. English embarrass Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥tom Proto-Italic *-mentom Latin -mentum Old French -mentbor. Middle English -ment English -ment English embarrassment From embarrass + -ment.
Meanings
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(countable, uncountable) A state of discomfort arising from bashfulness or consciousness of having violated a social rule; humiliation.
The desired effect [of affectionate teasing] is a look of pleasurable embarrassment, as if you administered a compliment. Anyone who doesn't stop teasing immediately upon producing real embarrassment, anger or tears is not really teasing.
1998 February 22, Judith Martin, “Tease and sympathy”, in The Washington Post:
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(countable, uncountable) A person or thing which is the cause of humiliation to another.
The audacious hijacking in Paris of a van carrying the baggage of a Saudi prince to his private jet is obviously an embarrassment to the French capital, whose ultra-high-end boutiques have suffered a spate of heists in recent months.
2014 August 21, “A brazen heist in Paris [print version: International New York Times, 22 August 2014, p. 8]”, in The New York Times:Jack, you are an embarrassment to this family.
Losing this highly publicized case was an embarrassment to the firm.
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(countable, uncountable) A large collection of good or valuable things, especially one that exceeds requirements or causes some sort of hindrance.
At one time, I reflected, we'd had an embarrassment of good, qualified squad leader—ready men in the platoon.
2013, Frank Boccia, The Crouching Beast: A United States Army Lieutenant's Account of the Battle for Hamburger Hill, May 1969, McFarland, →ISBN, page 256:There are over 5,000 Americans now in Paris, many artists, singers, musicians, writers, and actors, so many, indeed, the committee could hardly pick a program from an embarrassment of volunteers.
1914, Collier's, page 30:The landscape presented an embarrassment of riches for the industrial archaeologist, and eighteenth- and nineteenth-century remains were still visible in abundance
1996, David Morgan Evans, Peter Salway, David Thackray, The Remains of Distant Times: Archaeology and the National Trust, Boydell & Brewer, →ISBN, page 188:
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(countable, uncountable) A state of confusion; hesitation; uncertainty.
[…]and render them more intelligible than all the commentaries which have been written on them, for they generally render the authour more obscure, and lead the reader into greater embarrassments, by what they explain, than by what they leave untouched.
1785, James Ridgway, A Dictionary of Literary Conversation:
- (countable, uncountable) Impairment of function due to disease: respiratory embarrassment.
- (countable, dated, uncountable) Difficulty in financial matters; poverty.
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(collective, countable, uncountable) A group of pandas (ie. red panda, giant panda)
In Wolong, the captive panda population has increased from just eight bears to 330-the largest embarrassment of pandas in the world.
2023, Gloria Dickie, Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future, W. W. Norton:A string of somebody’s little ponies, an embarrassment of pandas, enough dayglow neon to blow out an eardrum and a round of heavy, wet snow contributed Sunday to a rousing first round of closing days for Aspen mountains.
2018 April 18, David Krause, “Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk end season with parties, bacon. Lots of bacon”, in The Aspen Times, archived from the original on 27 Jul 2026:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| embarrassments | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
Deriveds
empathic embarrassment · disembarrassment · how embarrassment · vicarious embarrassment · unembarrassment · e-barrassment · criterion of embarrassment · secondhand embarrassment · embarrassment of riches · inductive embarrassment
Relateds
Translations (67)
ota محجوبلق (state of discomfort) · de Peinlichkeit (state of discomfort) · ckb تەریقی (state of discomfort) · uk со́ром (state of discomfort) · bg притеснение (state of discomfort) · es roche (state of discomfort) · pt vergonha (person whose actions cause humiliation) · es bochorno (state of discomfort) · de Verlegenheit (state of discomfort) · es vergüenza (state of discomfort) · no unnselighet (state of discomfort) · bg объркване (state of confusion) · fi häpeäpilkku (person whose actions cause humiliation) · yi שאַנדע (state of discomfort) · de Verlegenheit (state of confusion) · ca avergonyiment (state of discomfort) · fi häpeä (state of discomfort) · be со́рам (state of discomfort) · ru смяте́ние (state of confusion) · es avergonzamiento (state of discomfort) · be збянтэ́жанасць (state of discomfort) · yi שאַנדע (person whose actions cause humiliation) · no unnseelse (state of discomfort) · ro jenă (state of discomfort) · es corte (state of discomfort) · sc barrancu (state of discomfort) · ar إحْرَاج (state of discomfort) · it imbarazzo (state of discomfort) · cmn 困窘 (state of confusion) · fi hämmennys (state of confusion) · scn mpicciu (state of discomfort) · fi häpeäksi (person whose actions cause humiliation) · ru замеша́тельство (state of confusion) · ru затрудне́ние (state of confusion) · el ντρόπιασμα (state of discomfort) · no sjenerthet (state of discomfort) · es correncia (state of discomfort) · es pena (state of discomfort) · ru позо́рище (person whose actions cause humiliation) · es pudor (state of discomfort) · uk збенте́ження (state of discomfort) · es ahueve (state of discomfort) · mi aniutanga (state of discomfort) · tl dalang-hiya (state of discomfort) · fr embarras (state of discomfort) · bg стеснение (state of discomfort) · hi शर्म (state of discomfort) · unm mixanësëwakàn (state of discomfort) · fi kiusaantuneisuus (state of discomfort) · pl zażenowanie (state of discomfort) · eo embaraso (state of discomfort) · es plancha (state of discomfort) · ru смуще́ние (state of discomfort) · no forlegenhet (state of discomfort) · fi nolostuminen (state of discomfort) · fr embarras (state of confusion) · fr honte (de) (person whose actions cause humiliation) · bg смущение (state of confusion) · de Betretenheit (state of discomfort) · no sjenanse (state of discomfort) · ru стыд (state of discomfort) · ru позо́р (person whose actions cause humiliation) · hi शर्मिंदगी (state of discomfort) · ru стесне́ние (state of discomfort) · es palta (state of discomfort) · nl verlegenheid (state of discomfort) · pt vergonha (state of discomfort)