embarrassing
verbnounadjectivecommon in dialogue
- United States//ɪmˈbæɹ.ə.sɪŋ//
- Australia//ɪmˈbæɹ.ə.sɪŋ//
- //ɪmˈbɛɹ.ə.sɪŋ//
The action of the verb to embarrass; embarrassment.
verb
- 1
Also a form of embarrasspresent participle and gerund of embarrass
Etymology
By surface analysis, embarrass + -ing.
noun
- 1
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
- 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.
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.
“Barack Obama wrote the Epstein files? LOL. This is outright embarrassing,” Candace Owens wrote on X.
Forms
- plural
- embarrassings
- comparative
- more embarrassing
- superlative
- most embarrassing
embarrassing · The action of the verb to embarrass; embarrassment.
embarrassment · A state of discomfort arising from bashfulness or…embassy · The function or duty of an ambassador.embedded · Part of; firmly, or securely surrounded; lodged solidly into;…