embarrassment

Noun
US[im-ber-uh-smuhnt]/ɪmˈbɛrəsmənt/4 syllables

Open English WordNet

Noun (4)

  1. the shame you feel when your inadequacy or guilt is made publicType of shameKinds chagrin, self-consciousness, confusion, discomfiture, shamefacedness, abashment
  2. the state of being embarrassed (usually by some financial inadequacy)“he is currently suffering financial embarrassments”Type of emotional state, spirit
  3. some event that causes someone to be embarrassed“the outcome of the vote was an embarrassment for the liberals”Opposite disembarrassmentType of trouble
  4. extreme excess“an embarrassment of riches”Synonyms: overplusplethorasuperfluityType of excess, excessivenessKinds redundancy, redundance
Word of the day · Sep 29About this word
haphazardadjective

What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz

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Translations

Noun state of discomfort

Spanish
vergüenza
French
embarras
Italian
imbarazzo
Portuguese
vergonha
Turkish
mahcubiyet
Russian
смуще́ние smuščénije
Arabic
إحْرَاج ʔiḥrāj
Chinese
尴尬 gāngà
11 more languages
Swedish
pinsamhet
Indonesian
kecanggungan
Hungarian
zavar
Portuguese (PT)
vergonha
Chinese (Trad.)
尷尬 gāngà
Esperanto
embaraso
Finnish
häpeä
Hebrew
מבוכה m'vukhá
Romanian
jenă

The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Em·bar′rass·ment noun

Origin: F. embarrassement.

1. A state of being embarrassed; perplexity; impediment to freedom of action; entanglement; hindrance; confusion or discomposure of mind, as from not knowing what to do or to say; disconcertedness.

The embarrassment which inexperienced minds have often to express themselves upon paper.— Washington Irving
The embarrassments tom commerce growing out of the late regulations.— George Bancroft

2. Difficulty or perplexity arising from the want of money to pay debts.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54

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