embarrassing

adjective em·bar·rass·ing \ im-ˈber-ə-siŋ , -ˈba-rə- \

Updated on: 12 Apr 2018

Definition of embarrassing

: causing a feeling of self-conscious confusion and distress : causing embarrassment

an embarrassing error

The official was ever so polite, and ever so sorry, but the rule was strict, and he could not let us in. It was very embarrassing, for many eyes were on us.
—Mark Twain

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embarrassingly

play \im-ˈber-ə-siŋ-lē, -ˈba-rə-\ adverb

- an embarrassingly messy house

Recent Examples of embarrassing from the Web

Palace were responsible for an embarrassing error that meant the defender had been receiving his pay without tax and the National Insurance taken off.

— SI.com, "Pape Souare Goes Bust as Crystal Palace Admin Error Leaves Defender With 'Large Six-Figure Tax Bill'," 9 Apr. 2018
The ouster of Cryan capped an embarrassing two-week run for the 148-year-old lender.

— Fortune, "Why Deutsche Bank Replaced CEO John Cryan After Less Than 3 Years," 9 Apr. 2018
The team was scheduled to have a banquet this weekend, but after a series of embarrassing social media posts and behaviors by some members of the team, the department canceled the event.

— mac engel, star-telegram, "TCU swimming and diving situation was a fiasco from Day 1 | Fort Worth Star-Telegram," 7 Apr. 2018
The actions could be viewed as an attempt to remove potentially embarrassing messages, and this is particularly relevant given the history of Facebook.

— tom warren, The Verge, "Facebook secretly deleted messages Mark Zuckerberg sent on Messenger," 6 Apr. 2018
That’s embarrassing — for absolutely all parties involved.

— sophie saint thomas, Allure, "How to Take a Dick Pic That Actually Looks Good," 4 Apr. 2018
Woods has always been compelling to watch through every phase of his life, from utter dominance to embarrassing personal scandal.

— scott fowler, charlotteobserver, "Will Tiger Woods play tournament golf in Charlotte for the first time since 2012? | Charlotte Observer," 4 Apr. 2018
On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal was compelled to issue an amusing, if embarrassing, correction after misquoting Israel's prime minister the day before.

— Anchorage Daily News, "Even atheists should read the Bible," 1 Apr. 2018
In came Bo Pelini, who won at an acceptable rate but couldn’t quite get the Cornhuskers to a championship level ... and carried a temper that led to some embarrassing moments.

— blair kerkhoff, kansascity, "There's a Big Red revival underway at Nebraska thanks to Scott Frost's return | The Kansas City Star," 16 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'embarrassing.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.