Embarrassment Meaning
/ɪmˈbæɹ.əs.mənt/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA state of discomfort arising from bashfulness or consciousness of having violated a social rule; humiliation.
nounA person or thing which is the cause of humiliation to another.
Sentence Examples
I was feverish with embarrassment.
He turned away from them in embarrassment.
I nearly died of embarrassment when he said that.
CEFR Practice Quiz
She felt deep ____ when she realized she had worn mismatched shoes to the meeting.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He turned red with ____ after tripping on the stage floor.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Akkadian 𒆟 (rakāsum) Akkadian 𒄙 (markasu)bor. Classical Syriac ܡܰܪܫܳܐ (maršā)bor. Arabic مَرَسَة (marasa)der. Old Galician-Portuguese baraço Old Galician-Portuguese embaraçarbor. Old Spanish embaraçar Spanish embarazarbor. French embarrasserbor. English embarrass Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥tom Proto-Italic *-mentom Latin -mentum Old French -mentbor. Middle English -ment English -ment English embarrassment From embarrass + -ment.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The desired effect [of affectionate teasing] is a look of pleasurable embarrassment, as if you administered a compliment. Anyone who doesn't stop teasing immediately upon producing real embarrassment, anger or tears is not really teasing."
— 1998 February 22, Judith Martin, “Tease and sympathy”, in The Washington Post:
"The audacious hijacking in Paris of a van carrying the baggage of a Saudi prince to his private jet is obviously an embarrassment to the French capital, whose ultra-high-end boutiques have suffered a spate of heists in recent months."
— 2014 August 21, “A brazen heist in Paris [print version: International New York Times, 22 August 2014, p. 8]”, in The New York Times:
"There are over 5,000 Americans now in Paris, many artists, singers, musicians, writers, and actors, so many, indeed, the committee could hardly pick a program from an embarrassment of volunteers."
— 1914, Collier's, page 30:
"The landscape presented an embarrassment of riches for the industrial archaeologist, and eighteenth- and nineteenth-century remains were still visible in abundance"
— 1996, David Morgan Evans, Peter Salway, David Thackray, The Remains of Distant Times: Archaeology and the National Trust, Boydell & Brewer, →ISBN, page 188:
"At one time, I reflected, we'd had an embarrassment of good, qualified squad leader—ready men in the platoon."
— 2013, Frank Boccia, The Crouching Beast: A United States Army Lieutenant's Account of the Battle for Hamburger Hill, May 1969, McFarland, →ISBN, page 256:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She felt deep ____ when she realized she had worn mismatched shoes to the meeting.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He turned red with ____ after tripping on the stage floor.