Skip to content

The word for today is…

embarrass (verb) -

transitive verb
1a: to cause to experience a state of self-conscious distress
b: to place in doubt, perplexity, or difficulties
c: to involve in financial difficulties
2a: to hamper the movement of
b: hinder, impede
3: to make intricate : complicate
4: to impair the activity of (a bodily function) or the function of (a bodily part)

intransitive verb
: to become anxiously self-conscious

Source : Merriam-Webster

Etymology : 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.

If you enjoyed this Good Oil word of the day please consider sharing it with your friends and, especially, your children.

Latest

Face of the Day

Face of the Day

Speaking from a rooftop bar in central Auckland where his candidacy for the November 7 election was revealed on Tuesday, Henry responded to the ‘why ACT’ question.

Members Public
The Good Oil Word of the Day

The Good Oil Word of the Day

The word for today is… orgy (noun) - 1: secret ceremonial rites held in honor of an ancient Greek or Roman deity and usually characterized by ecstatic singing and dancing 2a: drunken revelry b: a sexual encounter involving many people, also : an excessive sexual indulgence (see indulgence sense 1a) 3: excessive

Members Public
The Good Oil Daily Bible Verse

The Good Oil Daily Bible Verse

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Members Public