embarrassment
pronunciation
How to pronounce embarrassment in British English:
UK [ɪmˈbærəsmənt]
How to pronounce embarrassment in American English:
US [ɪmˈbærəsmənt]
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- Noun:
- the shame you feel when your inadequacy or guilt is made public
- the state of being embarrassed (usually by some financial inadequacy)
- some event that causes someone to be embarrassed
- extreme excess
Word Origin
- embarrassment (n.)
- 1670s, "state of being impeded, obstructed, or entangled" (of affairs, etc.), from embarrass + -ment, or from French embarrassement, from embarrasser. As "a mental state of unease," from 1774. Meaning "thing which embarrasses" is from 1729. Earlier words expressing much the same idea include baishment "embarrassment, confusion" (late 14c.); baishednesse (mid-15c.).
Example
- 1. His ignorant behaviour at the dinner table caused much embarrassment .
- 2. It 's not just that they fear embarrassment ; they fear destruction .
- 3. A majority expressed embarrassment about the changes in their bodies .
- 4. China struggles to find reliable , liquid investment opportunities for its embarrassment of riches .
- 5. That now risks becoming an embarrassment .