Embarrass — Meaning, Definition & Examples

Definition

1. Make someone feel ashamed or shy.
2. Make someone look foolish publicly.

Context Alive

At the family dinner, Uncle Joe started telling stories about Tom’s childhood accidents, and Tom begged him to stop because the stories were starting to embarrass him in front of his new girlfriend. His face turned bright red as everyone laughed.

Meanings

2 meanings

1 Make Someone Feel Ashamed or Shy (Verb) — VERY COMMON Common ▼

This meaning is about causing someone to feel uncomfortable or self-conscious. You know when your mum shows your baby photos to your friends and it embarrasses you so much that you want to disappear? This is embarrassing someone personally. You might embarrass a friend by revealing their secret crush, or embarrass yourself by calling your teacher “mum.” Or picture a dad who embarrasses his teenage daughter by dancing at her school event, not realizing everyone is watching. The word suggests making someone feel awkward or ashamed.

Vivid Example

During the video call with his colleagues, Jake’s cat jumped onto his keyboard and accidentally shared his holiday photos, which embarrassed him terribly as everyone saw him in a silly costume. He wished he could mute his camera forever.

2 Make Someone Look Foolish Publicly (Verb) — COMMON Common ▼

This meaning is about making a person or organization appear bad or incompetent in public. Imagine a journalist who publishes a story that embarrasses the government by exposing their broken promises, forcing officials to answer difficult questions. This is embarrassing someone publicly. A company might be embarrassed by a product failure, or a politician might be embarrassed by old statements resurfacing. Or think about a leaked email that embarrasses a famous CEO, showing they made serious mistakes. The word points to public humiliation or damage to reputation.

Vivid Example

The opposition party released documents that embarrassed the minister by revealing he had lied about his qualifications, forcing him to hold a press conference and apologize to the nation. His career never fully recovered.

Examples from the Street

“Please don’t embarrass me in front of my friends.”

Please don’t do anything that will make me feel awkward or humiliated when my mates are watching

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you — I thought you’d find it funny.”

I wasn’t trying to make you feel uncomfortable — I assumed you’d laugh at it

“My dad loves to embarrass me by telling stories from my childhood.”

My father enjoys making me cringe by sharing tales about when I was young

Common Patterns

embarrass someone → make a person feel awkward or self-conscious

embarrass yourself → do something that makes you look foolish

embarrass someone in front of [people] → humiliate someone publicly

don’t embarrass me → common request/warning to behave appropriately

didn’t mean to embarrass you → apologising for causing awkwardness

embarrass the government/company/party → cause public shame to an organisation

politically/publicly embarrass → cause shame in the political/public sphere

embarrass someone into [doing something] → shame someone into action

designed/intended to embarrass → deliberately meant to cause shame

it embarrasses me to [verb] → I feel awkward doing/admitting something

what embarrasses me is… → explaining the source of discomfort

nothing embarrasses [someone] → describing someone who never feels awkward

easily embarrassed → quick to feel self-conscious

Collocations

3 collocations

deeply embarrassed

feeling extremely awkward and ashamed

embarrass yourself

do something that makes you look foolish

embarrass someone publicly

make a person feel ashamed in front of others

Example Sentences

12 examples

1

Please don’t embarrass me in front of my colleagues by bringing up that incident

Please don’t make me feel humiliated with my workmates watching by mentioning what happened.

2

I didn’t mean to embarrass you — I genuinely thought you already knew

I wasn’t trying to make you feel awkward — I honestly believed you were already aware.

3

He has a habit of embarrassing himself at parties by drinking too much

He regularly makes a fool of himself at social gatherings by having one too many drinks.

4

The leaked documents were clearly designed to embarrass the prime minister

The released papers were obviously intended to humiliate the head of government.

5

It embarrasses me to admit that I’ve never read any Shakespeare

I feel uncomfortable confessing that I’ve never picked up anything written by the famous playwright.

6

My mother loves to embarrass me by showing my baby photos to everyone

My mum enjoys making me cringe by displaying pictures of me as an infant to all our guests.

7

The opposition is trying to embarrass the government over its handling of the crisis

The rival party is attempting to publicly shame the authorities for how they’ve managed the emergency.

8

She’s easily embarrassed, so please don’t make a big fuss about her birthday

She quickly becomes self-conscious, so please don’t create a huge scene on the anniversary of her birth.

9

The campaign aimed to embarrass companies into paying their workers a living wage

The effort sought to shame businesses into giving their staff enough money to live on.

10

Nothing embarrasses him — he’ll sing karaoke completely sober without any hesitation

He never feels awkward about anything — he’ll perform songs in public stone-cold straight without a moment’s doubt.

Learner Examples

★

Many students are afraid to speak English because they don’t want to embarrass themselves by making mistakes in front of classmates

Lots of learners are scared to use the language because they fear looking foolish by getting things wrong while their peers are listening.

★

It embarrasses me to ask for help with pronunciation, but I know it’s the only way to improve

I feel awkward requesting assistance with how I say words, but I understand it’s the sole path to getting better.

Phrasal Verbs & Idioms

1 items

Idioms & Expressions

embarrassment of riches — too many good options to choose

The menu was an embarrassment of riches — everything looked amazing.

Synonyms & Antonyms

6 items

Synonyms

humiliate

making someone feel deeply ashamed

shame

causing a feeling of disgrace

mortify

causing extreme embarrassment

make uncomfortable

creating an awkward feeling

Antonyms

comfort

making someone feel at ease

praise

giving positive attention