Word.ws English Dictionary

embarrassing

Syllables: em·bar·rass·ing/ɪmˈbæɹ.ə.sɪŋ//ɪmˈbæɹ.ə.sɪŋ/

embarrassing is the present participle and gerund of embarrass.

Meaning of embarrass

Verb

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

  1. (transitive) To disrupt someone's composure or comfort with acting publicly or freely.
    • The crowd's laughter and jeers embarrassed him.
  2. (transitive) To hinder from liberty of movement; to impede; to obstruct.
    • The motion was advanced in order to embarrass the progress of the bill.
  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.
  4. (formal, transitive) To perplex mentally; confuse, disconcert; catch off guard.

See all 9 meanings of embarrass

Noun

embarrassing (usually uncountable, plural embarrassings)

  1. (usually) The action of the verb to embarrass; embarrassment.
    • May 11, 1715, Robert Wodrow, letter to Mrs Wodrow
      It seemed, at first, to be agreed, that the King should be addressed by the Assembly; but the time of presenting, because of the present embarrassings of affairs, to be left to the Commission.

Adjective

embarrassing (comparative more embarrassing, superlative most embarrassing)

  1. Causing embarrassment; leading to a feeling of uncomfortable shame or self-consciousness.
    • The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. No one queried it. It was in the classic pattern of human weakness, mean and embarrassing and sad.1963, Margery Allingham, “Eye Witness”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 249
    • In a famously embarrassing incident in 1996, America Online's errant dirty-word filter prevented residents of the British town Scunthorpe from signing up as new customers.2004 April 23, Declan McCullagh, “Google's chastity belt too tight”, in CNET, archived from the original on 16 Jun 2011
    Synonyms:
    awkward, shameful

Synonyms of embarrassing

Forms of embarrassing

Noun
pluralembarrassings
Adjective
comparativemore embarrassing
superlativemost embarrassing

Origin of embarrassing

By surface analysis, embarrass + -ing.

Words formed from embarrassing

Questions about embarrassing

What does embarrassing mean?
Embarrassing means the action of the verb to embarrass; embarrassment.
What is embarrassing the present participle and gerund of?
Embarrassing is the present participle and gerund of embarrass.
What part of speech is embarrassing?
Embarrassing can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce embarrassing?
Embarrassing is pronounced /ɪmˈbæɹ.ə.sɪŋ/ (UK).
What is the plural of embarrassing?
The plural of embarrassing is embarrassings.

Words near embarrassing in the dictionary

  1. embarrassedly
  2. embarrasser
  3. embarrassers
  4. embarrasses
  5. embarrassin'
  6. embarrassing
  7. embarrassingly
  8. embarrassingly parallel
  9. embarrassingness
  10. embarrassings
  11. embarrassment

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: embarrassing (page history and authors); embarrass (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-embarrassing.wav, En-us-embarrassing.ogg.

Cite this entry: “embarrassing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/embarrassing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.