To hamper or impede as with entanglements; encumber; render intricate or difficult; beset with difficulties; confuse or perplex, as conflicting circumstances, pecuniary complications, etc.: as, public affairs are embarrassed; want of order tends to embarrass business; the merchant is embarrassed by the unfavorable state of the market, or by his liabilities.
To perplex mentally; confuse the thoughts or perceptions of; discompose; disconcert; abash: as, an abrupt address may embarrass a young lady.
Synonyms To hinder, impede, obstruct, harass, distress, clog, hamper.
Embarrass, Puzzle, Perplex. To embarrass, literally, is to bar one's way, to impede one's progress in a particular direction, to hamper one's actions; hence, to make it difficult for one to know what is best to be done; also, to confuse or disconcert one so that one has not for a time one's usual judgment or presence of mind. To puzzle, literally, is to pose or give a hard question to, to put into a state of uncertainty where decision is difficult or impossible; it applies equally to opinion and to conduct. To perplex, literally, is to inclose, as in the meshes of a net, to entangle one's judgment so that one is at a loss what to think or how to act. Embarrass expresses most of uncomfortable feeling and mental confusion.