🇬🇧 Embarrass meaning: English Vocabulary Flash Card

To embarrass someone means to make them feel shy, awkward, or uncomfortable, usually because something silly, weird, or wrong happened in front of other people. When you embarrass a person, their face might turn red, they might want to hide, or they might say, “Oh no, that was so awkward!”

I embarrassed myself by answering the phone, “Hello, pizza?” and it was actually my principal calling.

I embarrassed myself when I waved at a person I thought I knew, but it was actually a very surprised stranger.

Dad embarrassed himself when he tried to say “Good morning” in Spanish and accidentally wished everyone “Good cheese.”

Mom accidentally embarrassed me at school pickup by shouting, “Did you survive without your teddy bear today?”

Grandpa embarrassed me at lunch when he said, “Who wants to hear the story of when you peed in the flowerpot?”

At assembly, a student drops her cup; coffee hits her shoes. Faces turn; whispers begin. She mumbles, trying not to embarrass herself. The spill does embarrass her, and the whisper will embarrass her more. A friend steps forward to not embarrass her, offering a jacket. The crowd stops staring; she breathes, grateful that the friend did not embarrass her further.

This word is at the C2 level, which means it represents the highest mastery of English. It’s often used in specialized or highly formal contexts and helps you communicate with precision and subtlety, much like a native speaker.

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