To embarrass someone is to make them feel confused and foolish in front of other people.

// Unexpected laughter embarrassed the speaker.

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“Going public creates accountability and makes backing out harder. Every creator wishes they’d started sooner. Don’t let future-you have the same regret. Get okay with the idea that in the future, your past work will embarrass you. This means growth.” — Jodie Cook, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2025

If you’ve ever felt frozen, unable to move, or like a deer in the proverbial headlights when embarrassed by something, then the origins of the verb embarrass will make a great deal of sense. When embarrass first entered English from French in the late 16th century, it was used for the action of hampering or impeding the progress of someone or something—figuratively tying them up. No wonder then that embarrass comes ultimately from the Portuguese verb embaraçar, which adds the prefix em- to the noun baraça, meaning “noose” or “rope.” This “hampering” sense of embarrass, and others related to restricting, impairing, or burdening of one sort or other, are still in use today, but they’re less common than the “to make someone feel confused and foolish in front of other people” sense is.