Crossword Dictionary

EMBARRASS

embarrass, abash - v 
cause to be embarrassed; cause to feel self-conscious 

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Synonyms

agitate, annoy, bewilder, bother, confuse, disconcert, distract, disturb, dumbfound, faze, fluster, irk, mortify, perplex, perturb, plague, puzzle, rattle, shame, stun, upset, abash, bug, chagrin, discombobulate, discomfit, discompose, discountenance, distress, nonplus, tease, throw

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Examples

Furious, Katie left before she made more of a scene that would embarrass her sister.

In less than three years the young king had justified their confidence, and delivered his country from its worst embarrass ments.

The counter-stroke of Austria was to embarrass Prussia by allowing full play in Holstein to the agitation in favor of the Augustenburg claimant.

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Etymology

1670s, "perplex, throw into doubt," from French embarrasser (16c.), literally "to block," from Italian imbarrazzo, from imbarrare "to bar," from assimilated form of in- "into, upon" (from PIE root *en "in") + Vulgar Latin *barra "bar" (see bar (n.1)).

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