embarrass

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 25, 2022 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>embarrass</strong> &#149; \im-BAIR-us\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p><em>Embarrass</em> means "to cause to experience a state of self-conscious distress."</p> <p>// No one wants to <em>embarrass</em> themselves with spinach stuck in their teeth during a work luncheon—but it happens.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/embarrass">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"The Eagles were <em>embarrassed</em> Sunday in a 31-15 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an NFC Wild Card playoff game…." — Mike Kaye, <em>The South Jersey Times</em> (New Jersey), 17 Jan. 2022</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p><em>Embarrass</em> comes from Portuguese <em>embaraçar</em>, whose prefix (<em>em-</em>) is from Lain <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/in-#h9">in-</a></em> and whose base word means "noose." Alhough <em>embarrass</em> has had various meanings related to acts that hinder or impede, these days it most often implies making someone feel or look foolish.</p> <br /><br /> </p> </font>