Embarrass Embarrassed ɪmˈbærəs I Kissing Front Friends Verb

• her questions about my private life embarrassed me.
• i didn't want to embarrass him by kissing him in front of his friends.
• it embarrassed her to meet strange men in the corridor at night.
• the speech was deliberately designed to embarrass the prime minister.

embarrass

1. to make somebody feel shy, awkward or ashamed, especially in a social situation
• Her questions about my private life embarrassed me.
• I didn't want to embarrass him by kissing him in front of his friends.
• It embarrassed her to meet strange men in the corridor at night.
2. to cause problems or difficulties for somebody
• The speech was deliberately designed to embarrass the prime minister.

Extra Examples

• He was obviously embarrassed at his lack of preparedness.
• I didn’t want to embarrass him by kissing him in front of his friends.
• The scandal has totally embarrassed cricket’s governing body.

Verb Forms

• present simple I / you / we / they embarrass
• he / she / it embarrasses
• past simple embarrassed
• past participle embarrassed
• -ing form embarrassing

Word Origin

• early 17th cent. (originally in the sense ‘to hamper’ or ‘impede (a person or action)’): from French embarrasser, from Spanish embarazar, probably from Portuguese embaraçar (from baraço ‘halter’).