embarrassment

/ɛmˈbɛrəsmɪnt/

/ɛmˈbærəsmənt/

Other forms: embarrassments

When you feel embarrassment, you are self-conscious or ashamed. Embarrassment might keep you from wearing your Statue of Liberty Halloween costume in public.

Something that makes you blush — like when ten people rush up to tell you how great your tuba solo was or realizing that you left the house in your pajama bottoms — causes you embarrassment. The person or thing that makes you feel awkward and ashamed can also be described as an embarrassment. To avoid embarrassment, remember to double the r's and s's when you spell embarrassment.

Definitions of embarrassment

1. noun

   the shame you feel when your inadequacy or guilt is made public
   types:

   self-consciousness, uncomfortableness, uneasiness

   embarrassment deriving from the feeling that others are critically aware of you

   shamefacedness, sheepishness

   feeling embarrassed about yourself

   chagrin, humiliation, mortification

   strong feelings of embarrassment

   confusion, discombobulation

   a feeling of embarrassment that leaves you confused

   abashment, bashfulness

   feeling embarrassed due to modesty

   discomfiture, discomposure, disconcertion, disconcertment

   anxious embarrassment

   type of:

   shame

   a painful emotion resulting from an awareness of inadequacy or guilt
2. noun

   some event that causes someone to be embarrassed
   “the outcome of the vote was an embarrassment for the liberals”

   antonyms:

   disembarrassment

   something that extricates you from embarrassment

   type of:

   trouble

   an event causing distress or pain
3. noun

   the state of being embarrassed (usually by some financial inadequacy)
   “he is currently suffering financial embarrassments”

   type of:

   emotional state, spirit

   the state of a person's emotions (especially with regard to pleasure or dejection)
4. noun

   extreme excess
   “an embarrassment of riches”

   synonyms: overplus, plethora, superfluity

   types:

   redundance, redundancy

   the attribute of being superfluous and unneeded

   deadwood, fifth wheel

   someone or something that is unwanted and unneeded

   type of:

   excess, excessiveness, inordinateness

   immoderation as a consequence of going beyond sufficient or permitted limits