Embarrassing

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  embarrassing \embarrassing\ adj.
     1. hard to deal with; as, greeted with an embarrassing
        silence.
  
     Syn: awkward, disconcerting, off-putting, sticky, tight,
          unenviable.


          [WordNet 1.5]
  
     2. causing to feel shame or chagrin or vexation.
  
     Syn: mortifying, shame-making.
          [WordNet 1.5]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Embarrass \Em*bar"rass\ ([e^]m*b[a^]r"ras), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
     {Embarrassed} ([e^]m*b[a^]r"rast); p. pr. & vb. n.
     {Embarrassing}.] [F. embarrasser (cf. Sp. embarazar, Pg.
     embara[,c]ar, Pr. barras bar); pref. em- (L. in) + LL. barra
     bar. See {Bar}.]
     1. To hinder from freedom of thought, speech, or action by
        something which impedes or confuses mental action; to make
        (a person) unpleasantly self-conscious; to perplex; to
        discompose; to disconcert; as, laughter may embarrass an
        orator. [WordNet sense 1]
  
     Syn: abash, discompose, disconcert, discomfit, chagrin. [1913
          Webster +PJC]
  
     2. To hinder from liberty of movement; to impede; to
        obstruct; as, business is embarrassed; public affairs are
        embarrassed. [WordNet sense 2]
  
     Syn: obstruct, blockade, block, hinder, stymie. [1913
          Webster]
  
     3. (Com.) To involve in difficulties concerning money
        matters; to incumber with debt; to beset with urgent
        claims or demands; -- said of a person or his affairs; as,
        a man or his business is embarrassed when he can not meet
        his pecuniary engagements.
  
     Syn: To hinder; perplex; entangle; confuse; puzzle;
          disconcert; abash; distress. -- To {Embarrass},
          {Puzzle}, {Perplex}. We are puzzled when our faculties
          are confused by something we do not understand. We are
          perplexed when our feelings, as well as judgment, are so
          affected that we know not how to decide or act. We are
          embarrassed when there is some bar or hindrance upon us
          which impedes our powers of thought, speech, or motion.
          A schoolboy is puzzled by a difficult sum; a reasoner is
          perplexed by the subtleties of his opponent; a youth is
          sometimes so embarrassed before strangers as to lose his
          presence of mind.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  embarrassing
       adj 1: hard to deal with; especially causing pain or embarrassment;
              "awkward (or embarrassing or difficult) moments in the
              discussion"; "an awkward pause followed his remark";
              "a sticky question"; "in the unenviable position of
              resorting to an act he had planned to save for the
              climax of the campaign" [syn: {awkward}, {sticky}, {unenviable}]
       2: causing to feel shame or chagrin or vexation; "the
          embarrassing moment when she found her petticoat down
          around her ankles"; "it was mortifying to know he had
          heard every word" [syn: {mortifying}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  32 Moby Thesaurus words for "embarrassing":
     awkward, baffling, bewildering, bothering, chastening, confounding,
     confusing, crushing, discomposing, disconcerting, dismaying,
     distracting, distressing, disturbing, enigmatic, humbling,
     humiliating, humiliative, intricate, mortifying, mysterious,
     mystifying, perplexing, perturbing, problematic, puzzling,
     shameful, shaming, touchy, uncomfortable, upsetting, worrying