Embarrassment is an unpleasant emotional state experienced upon having a socially unacceptable act or condition witnessed by or revealed to others.

It is similar to shame, except that shame may be experienced for an act known only to oneself. Also, embarrassment usually carries the connotation of being caused by an act that is merely socially unacceptable, rather than morally wrong. __TOC__

Causes

Some causes of embarrassment may include:

• losing in a competition
• socially awkward behaviour
• making unwarranted and incorrect assumptions about others
• being mistaken
• accidents (tripping, spilling liquids, etc.)
• being seen urinating or defecating
• flatulence
• misbehaving due to alcohol or other drugs
• Damaging or soiling an article of clothing
• being seen nude or inappropriately dressed
• being seen masturbating or having sex
• being seen in a sexually aroused state, such as with an erection
• discussing sexual matters
• body odor
• medical conditions (vomiting, fainting, suffering a medical emergency)
• having private information revealed (such as being the subject of gossip)
• mistaking one person for another
• showing childhood photos to other people
• accompanying or being associated with someone who is behaving in an embarrassing way
• witnessing someone else's embarrassment (empathic embarrassment)
• being made the focus of attention (e.g. the birthday celebrant)
• receiving misdirected or excessive praise or compliments
• being caught doing something rather private (e.g. singing)
• being insulted
• being rejected by another person
• being near a person they like

Embarrassment is often accompanied by blushing, nervousness, stammering, and fidgeting. For other resources, check out The World's Most Embarassing Website

Etymology

The English word embarrassed has taken an unusual path into English. The first written usage of embarrass in English was in 1664 by Samuel Pepys in his diary. The word was derived from the French word embarrasser, "to block," or "obstruct",¹ whose first recorded usage was by Michel de Montaigne in 1580. The French word was derived from the Spanish embarazar, whose first recorded usage was in 1460 in Cancionero de Stúñiga (Songbook of Stúñiga) by Álvaro de Luna.² The Spanish word comes from the Portuguese embaraçar, which is a combination of the prefix em- (from Latin im- for "in-") with baraço or baraça, "a noose", or "rope".³ Baraça originated before the Romans began their conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 218 BC.⁴ Thus, baraça could be related to the Celtic word barr, "tuft". (Celtic people actually settled much of Spain and Portugal beginning in the 700s BC, the second group of people to do so.)⁵ However, it certainly is not directly derived from it, as the subsitution of r for rr in Ibero-Romantic languages was not a known occurrence.

Some say the Spanish word actually came from the Italian imbarazzare, from imbarazzo, "obstacle" or "obstruction". That word came from imbarrare, "to block", or "bar", which is a combination of in-, "in" with barra, "bar" (from the Vulgar Latin barra, which is of unknown origin).⁶ The problem with this theory is that the first known usage of the word in Italian was by Bernardo Davanzati (1529-1606), long after the word had entered Spanish.⁷

See also

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• modesty
• humiliation
• shame
• guilt

External link

• Bibliography of Embarrassment Research

References

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1. "embarras," The Oxford English Dictionary, (1989) February 15, 2006.
2. Joan Corominas and José Pacual, "embarazar," Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, (Gredos, 1980) Vol. II, p. 555-556.
3. "embarrass," Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged (2002) February 15, 2006.
4. Corominas, "embarazar".
5. "Iberian," Encyclopaedia Britannica, February 15, 2006.
6. Corominas, "embarazar".
7. "embarrass," The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, (2000) February 15, 2006.

Emotion

Dïaes | Peinlichkeit | מבוכה