Embarrass

WORD OF THE DAY

embarrass / verb / im-BAIR-us

Definition

1a: to cause to experience a state of self-conscious distress

1b: to place in doubt, perplexity, or difficulties

1c: to involve in financial difficulties

2a: to hamper the movement of

2b: hinder, impede

3a: to make intricate 

3b: complicate

4: to impair the activity of (a bodily function) or the function of (a bodily part)

Examples

He was embarrassed to discover that he had been talking to prospective clients all day with a piece of spinach lodged in his teeth.

"To start with, the existence of the blog post itself is a striking demonstration of privilege. Most people think twice before publicly embarrassing their former employers, for fear that it will ruin their careers or they will face other types of retaliation." 

— Sarah Kessler, Quartz, 27 Jan. 2018

Did You Know?

If you've ever been so embarrassed that you felt like you were caught up in a noose of shame, then you may have some insight into the origins of the word embarrass. The word can be traced back through French and Spanish to the Portuguese word embaraçar, which was itself probably formed as a combination of the prefix em- (from Latin in-) and baraça, the Portuguese word for "noose." 

Though embarrass has had various meanings related to acts that hinder or impede throughout its history in English, these days it most often implies making someone feel or look foolish.