Word of the Day

: February 25, 2022

embarrass

verb im-BAIR-us

What 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.

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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.