embarrass

• POS: Verb (usu participle)
• HYPHEN: em=bar=rass

CIDE DICTIONARY

embarrass, v. t. [F. embarrasser (cf. Sp. embarazar, Pg. embara, Pr. barras bar); pref. em- (L. in) + LL. barra bar. See Bar.].

•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  To hinder from liberty of movement; to impede; to obstruct; as, business is embarrassed; public affairs are embarrassed.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.

Syn. -- 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

embarrass, n. [F. embarras. See Embarrass, v. t.].

 Embarrassment.  Bp. Warburton.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

embarrass, v.tr.
1 cause (a person) to feel awkward or self-conscious or ashamed.
2 (as embarrassed adj.) encumbered with debts.
3 encumber, impede.
4 complicate (a question etc.).
5 perplex.

Derivative

embarrassedly adv. embarrassingly adv. embarrassment n.

Etymology

F embarrasser (orig. = hamper) f. Sp. embarazar f. It. imbarrare bar in (as IN-(2), BAR(1))

THESAURUS

embarrass

abash, absorb, addle, addle the wits, agitate, awkward, ball up, becloud, bedazzle, befuddle, bewilder, bother, bug, burden, cast down, catch up in, chagrin, cloud, concern, confound, confuse, cramp, cripple, cumber, daze, dazzle, deflate, discombobulate, discomfit, discommodious, discompose, disconcert, discountenance, disgrace, dismay, disorganize, disorient, distress, disturb, draw in, embarrassing, encumber, engage, enmesh, ensnarl, entangle, entoil, entrammel, entrap, entwine, faze, fetter, flummox, flurry, fluster, flutter, fog, fuddle, fuss, hamper, hamstring, handicap, hobble, humble, humiliate, impede, implicate, incommodious, interest, involve, lame, let down, lime, lumber, maze, mist, mix up, moider, mortify, muddle, net, nonplus, perplex, perturb, pother, press down, put out, put to shame, queer, raise hell, rattle, ruffle, saddle with, shackle, shame, show up, snarl, suck into, tangle, throw into confusion, toil, trammel, unsettle, upset, vex, weigh down

ROGET THESAURUS

embarrass

Inexpedience

VB be inexpedient, come amiss, embarrass, put to inconvenience, pay too dear for one's whistle.

Difficulty

VB be difficult, run one hard, go against the grain, try one's patience, put one out, put to one's shifts, put to one's wit's end, go hard with one, try one, pose, perplex, bother, nonplus, gravel, bring to a deadlock, be impossible, be in the way of, meet with difficulties, labor under difficulties, get into difficulties, plunge into difficulties, struggle with difficulties, contend with difficulties, grapple with difficulties, labor under a disadvantage, be in difficulty, fish in troubled waters, buffet the waves, swim against the stream, scud under bare poles, Have much ado with, have a hard time of it, come to the push, come to the pinch, bear the brunt, grope in the dark, lose one's way, weave a tangled web, walk among eggs, get into a scrape, bring a hornet's nest about one's ears, be put to one's shifts, flounder, boggle, struggle, not know which way to turn, perdre son Latin, stick at, stick in the mud, stick fast, come to a stand, come to a standstill, come to a deadlock, hold the wolf by the ears, hold the tiger by the tail, render difficult, enmesh, encumber, embarrass, ravel, entangle, put a spoke in the wheel, lead a pretty dance.

Hindrance

VB hinder, impede, filibuster, impedite, embarrass, keep off, stave off, ward off, obviate, avert, antevert, turn aside, draw off, prevent, forefend, nip in the bud, retard, slacken, check, let, counteract, countercheck, preclude, debar, foreclose, estop, inhibit, shackle, restrict, obstruct, stop, stay, bar, bolt, lock, block, block up, choke off, belay, barricade, block the way, bar the way, stop the way, forelay, dam up, put on the brake, scotch the wheel, lock the wheel, put a spoke in the wheel, put a stop to, traverse, contravene, interrupt, intercept, oppose, hedge in, hedge round, cut off, inerclude, interpose, interfere, intermeddle, cramp, hamper, clog, clog the wheels, cumber, encumber, incumber, handicap, choke, saddle with, load with, overload, lay, lumber, trammel, tie one's hands, put to inconvenience, incommode, discommode, discompose, hustle, corner, drive into a corner, run foul of, fall foul of, cross the path of, break in upon, thwart, frustrate, disconcert, balk, foil, faze, feaze, feeze, baffle, snub, override, circumvent, defeat, spike guns, spoil, mar, clip the wings of, cripple, put an extinguisher on, damp, dishearten, discountenance, throw cold water on, spoil sport, lay a wet blanket, throw a wet blanket on, cut the ground from under one, take the wind out of one's sails, undermine, be in the way of, stand in the way of, act as a drag, hang like a millstone round one's neck.

Uncertainty

VB be uncertain, wonder whether, lose the clue, lose the clew, scent, miss one's way, not know what to make of, not know which way to turn, not know whether one stands on one s head or one's, float in a sea of doubt, hesitate, flounder, lose oneself, lose one's head, muddle one's brains, render uncertain, put out, pose, puzzle, perplex, embarrass, confuse, confound, bewilder, bother, molder, addle the wits, throw off the scent, ambiguas in vulgus spargere voces, keep in suspense, doubt, hang in the balance, tremble in the balance, depend.

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