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Webster 1913 Edition

Embarrass

Em-bar′rass

,
Noun.
[F.
embarras
. See
Embarrass
,
Verb.
T.
]
Embarrassment.
[Obs.]
Bp. Warburton.

Webster 1828 Edition

Embarrass

EMBAR'RASS

, v.t.
1.
To perplex; to render intricate; to entangle. We say, public affairs are embarrassed; the state of our accounts is embarrassed; want of order tends to embarrass business.
2.
To perplex, as the mind or intellectual faculties; to confuse. Our ideas are sometimes embarrassed.
3.
To perplex, as with debts, or demands, beyond the means of payment; applied to a person or his affairs. In mercantile language, a man or his business is embarrassed,when he cannot meet his pecuniary engagements.
4.
To perplex; to confuse; to disconcert; to abash. An abrupt address may embarrass a young lady. A young man may be too much embarrassed to utter a word.

Definition 2024

embarrass

embarrass

English

Verb

embarrass ‎(third-person singular simple present embarrasses, present participle embarrassing, simple past and past participle embarrassed)

  1. (transitive) to humiliate; to disrupt somebody's composure or comfort with acting publicly or freely; to disconcert; to abash
    The crowd's laughter and jeers embarrassed him.
  2. (transitive) To hinder from liberty of movement; to impede; to obstruct.
    Business is embarrassed; public affairs are embarrassed.
  3. (transitive) To involve in difficulties concerning money matters; to encumber with debt; to beset with urgent claims or demands.
    A man or his business is embarrassed when he cannot meet his pecuniary engagements.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

External links

  • embarrass in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • embarrass in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Etymology

Borrowing from French embarrasser ‎(“to block, to obstruct”), from Spanish embarazar, either

Pronunciation

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