embarrassment
/ɪmˈbarəsmənt
/ /ɛmˈbarəsmənt/noun [mass noun]
1A feeling of self-consciousness, shame, or awkwardness: I turned red with embarrassment...
- Feelings of expectation, embarrassment, distress and emotional harm vary according to the individual.
- Pauline said today she feared that embarrassment and shame could be stopping Christine and Nicholas from contacting her.
- I felt a lot of shame, embarrassment and humiliation, I lived with all that for years.
Synonyms
awkwardness, self-consciousness, unease, uneasiness, discomfort, discomfiture, edginess;
shame, humiliation, mortification, ignominy;
sheepishness, shyness, bashfulness;
discomposure, flusteredness, perturbation, confusion, agitation, distress, chagrin
1.1 [count noun] A person or thing causing feelings of embarrassment: he was an embarrassment who was safely left ignored her extreme views might be an embarrassment to the movement...
- Supporters of devolution have become inured to setbacks, diversions, embarrassments, disappointments and shocks.
- But the family story, with all its problems, embarrassments and dysfunctional members, still has its universal appeal, at home and abroad.
- Over the years I have been sickened by the embarrassments that plagued his tenure and the reprehensible antagonism he suffered by Republican leaders.
1.2Financial difficulty: his temporary financial embarrassment...
- He cannot say he was unprepared for York council's financial embarrassment.
Synonyms
difficulty, predicament, plight, problem, mess, entanglement, imbroglio;
dilemma, quandary
informal bind, jam, pickle, fix, scrape
Phrases
an embarrassment of riches (or choice)