Embarrasser

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. To cause someone to feel self-conscious, awkward, or ashamed through one's actions or words; to create a situation that leads to public discomfort or humiliation; to put someone in a position that induces feelings of awkwardness or shame in social contexts
2. To induce feelings of self-doubt and discomfort in another individual by revealing personal shortcomings or mistakes; to provoke an atmosphere of social unease through thoughtless behavior; to place a person in a scenario that makes them feel embarrassed or exposed
3. To make another person feel uneasy in social situations by causing them to lose face or act foolishly; to create circumstances that breed awkwardness or shame; to influence someone to react with discomfort in public or social settings

Etymology: The verb began as a picture of physical restraint. Its ancestor is the Akkadian verb "rakāsum," meaning "to bind," which passed through Syriac and Arabic into the Iberian Peninsula. In Galician-Portuguese, "baraço" came to mean a halter or noose, and the verb "embaraçar" meant to entangle or shackle something, like an animal caught in its tether. From there the verb travelled through Old Spanish and Spanish "embarazar," which meant to obstruct or hinder, and then into French as "embarrasser." English borrowed it from French, and the sense had shifted from tying something up to blocking or impeding it. The social sense, of making someone feel awkwardly self-conscious, grew out of that idea of being hampered or caught off guard. The English noun is simply "embarrass" with the agentive ending "-er," which comes from the Old English suffix "-ere." That suffix was used to form words for people or things that perform an action, so the noun names whoever or whatever causes the embarrassment.

Synonyms: humiliate, shame, abash, disconcert, disgrace

Antonyms: comfort, reassure, encourage, support, uplift