embarrass
playWhat It Means
Embarrass means "to cause to experience a state of self-conscious distress."
// No one wants to embarrass themselves with spinach stuck in their teeth during a work luncheon—but it happens.
embarrass in Context
"The Eagles were embarrassed Sunday in a 31-15 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an NFC Wild Card playoff game…." — Mike Kaye, The South Jersey Times (New Jersey), 17 Jan. 2022
Did You Know?
Embarrass comes from Portuguese embaraçar, whose prefix (em-) is from Latin in- and whose base word means "noose." Although embarrass has had various meanings related to acts that hinder or impede, these days it most often implies making someone feel or look foolish.
Test Your Vocabulary with M-W Quizzes
Quiz
Fill in the blanks to complete a word meaning "to cause to be at a loss as to what to say, think, or do": n _ _ p _ _ s.
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