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Embarrassing   /ɪmbˈɛrəsɪŋ/   Listen
verb
Embarrass  v. t.  (past & past part. embarrassed; pres. part. embarrassing)  
1.
To hinder from freedom of thought, speech, or action by something which impedes or confuses mental action; to make (a person) unpleasantly self-conscious; to perplex; to discompose; to disconcert; as, laughter may embarrass an orator.
Synonyms: abash, discompose, disconcert, discomfit, chagrin.
2.
To hinder from liberty of movement; to impede; to obstruct; as, business is embarrassed; public affairs are embarrassed.
Synonyms: obstruct, blockade, block, hinder, stymie.
3.
(Com.) To involve in difficulties concerning money matters; to incumber with debt; to beset with urgent claims or demands; said of a person or his affairs; as, a man or his business is embarrassed when he can not meet his pecuniary engagements.
Synonyms: To hinder; perplex; entangle; confuse; puzzle; disconcert; abash; distress. To Embarrass, Puzzle, Perplex. We are puzzled when our faculties are confused by something we do not understand. We are perplexed when our feelings, as well as judgment, are so affected that we know not how to decide or act. We are embarrassed when there is some bar or hindrance upon us which impedes our powers of thought, speech, or motion. A schoolboy is puzzled by a difficult sum; a reasoner is perplexed by the subtleties of his opponent; a youth is sometimes so embarrassed before strangers as to lose his presence of mind.


adjective
embarrassing  adj.  
1.
Hard to deal with; as, greeted with an embarrassing silence.
Synonyms: awkward, disconcerting, off-putting, sticky, tight, unenviable.
2.
Causing to feel shame or chagrin or vexation.
Synonyms: mortifying, shame-making.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Embarrassing" Quotes from Famous Books



... began, very thorough, slightly harrowing. I had not realized the embarrassing detail of such a search. An extended store of collars suitable for different occasions; neat and glossy piles of shirts, both dress and plain; black silk hose mountain high, and neckties as numerous as the sea sands. Noting the rapt attention that McGuntrie in particular gave to ...
— The Firefly Of France • Marion Polk Angellotti
... then, love their calling with so devoted an affection?" demanded Gertrude, in a haste that she might have found embarrassing to explain. ...
— The Red Rover • James Fenimore Cooper
... But more embarrassing than my attempts at public speech were my attempts to keep up with my squad in the gymnasium and on the parade ground. My fellow recruits were thinking in the terms of drill only, and I was thinking in the terms of my new-found opportunity for an education. My awkwardness made me the subject ...
— From the Bottom Up - The Life Story of Alexander Irvine • Alexander Irvine
... that he was to be on exhibition. He wondered if the girl had done the same; if she, too, knew why she was there and that it was her duty to make a favorable impression on him, as it was his duty to attract her. It was embarrassing. For a young man of twenty-three to realize that his family expects him to make himself alluring to a desirable future wife whom he has never seen is not calculated to soothe his nerves or mantle him with ...
— Youth Challenges • Clarence B Kelland
... it is as insignificant as embarrassing to explain some things;—so much for that. As to my confidence in your stamina, I can see no reason to flinch from it; but I wish you would avoid all unwholesome accidents as ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Volume 3, No. 20, June, 1859 • Various


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