EMBARRASSING • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Embarrassing

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/ɪmbˈɛrəsɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Embarrass v. t. (past & past part. embarrassed; pres. part. embarrassing)

1.

To hinder from freedom of thought, speech, or action by something which impedes or confuses mental action; to make (a person) unpleasantly self-conscious; to perplex; to discompose; to disconcert; as, laughter may embarrass an orator.

Synonyms: abash, discompose, disconcert, discomfit, chagrin.

2.

To hinder from liberty of movement; to impede; to obstruct; as, business is embarrassed; public affairs are embarrassed.

Synonyms: obstruct, blockade, block, hinder, stymie.

3.

(Com.) To involve in difficulties concerning money matters; to incumber with debt; to beset with urgent claims or demands; said of a person or his affairs; as, a man or his business is embarrassed when he can not meet his pecuniary engagements.

Synonyms: To hinder; perplex; entangle; confuse; puzzle; disconcert; abash; distress. To Embarrass, Puzzle, Perplex. We are puzzled when our faculties are confused by something we do not understand. We are perplexed when our feelings, as well as judgment, are so affected that we know not how to decide or act. We are embarrassed when there is some bar or hindrance upon us which impedes our powers of thought, speech, or motion. A schoolboy is puzzled by a difficult sum; a reasoner is perplexed by the subtleties of his opponent; a youth is sometimes so embarrassed before strangers as to lose his presence of mind.

adjective

embarrassing adj.

1.

Hard to deal with; as, greeted with an embarrassing silence.

Synonyms: awkward, disconcerting, off-putting, sticky, tight, unenviable.

2.

Causing to feel shame or chagrin or vexation.

Synonyms: mortifying, shame-making.

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Etymology of 'Embarrassing'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Embarrassing" Quotes from Famous Books

... perplexing, upon first presentation to the mind, that can be selected {186} from the most ample list. Its professed object was to disprove the phenomenon of motion; but its real one, to embarrass an opponent. It has always attracted the attention of logicians; and even to them it has often proved embarrassing enough. The difficulty does not lie in proving that the conclusion is absurd, but in showing where the fallacy lies. From not knowing the precise kind of information required by [Greek: Idiotaes], I am unwilling to trespass on your valuable space ...

— Notes & Queries, No. 42, Saturday, August 17, 1850 • Various

... use embarrassing the poor fellow with any more strangers," Roger explained to the Commandant, as they moved further away down the path by which they had come. "After all, my place in this expedition is only to take a few photographs, wherever they are permitted"; and he touched the camera, slung over his shoulder, ...

— The Castle Of The Shadows • Alice Muriel Williamson

... she reproachfully, 'it's embarrassing enough for him to fee all those people without our staying and watching ...

— Jerry • Jean Webster

... to intervene in defence of his kinswoman, and to warn the council that if any attempt were made to prevent her from worshipping as she pleased, he would feel it necessary to recall his ambassador and to declare war (1551). The situation was decidedly embarrassing, and the council resolved to seek the advice of Cranmer, Ridley, and Hooper. The bishops replied that though to give licence to sin was sinful Mary's disobedience might be winked at for the time.[68] The suggestion was followed by the council, but later ...

— History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance • Rev. James MacCaffrey

... brilliancy and force, all his former utterances, of which he had any knowledge; and he never heard from him afterward, anything that could compare with it. His auditors were mainly those of his own people. His flow of thought was not interrupted by the slow, and embarrassing process of interpretation. The full grief of his heart, in view of the transactions of the previous year, was poured forth, and came like the irresistible sweep of a whirlwind. [Footnote: Conversation ...

— An account of Sa-Go-Ye-Wat-Ha - Red Jacket and his people, 1750-1830 • John Niles Hubbard

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