embarrass

1. 一个人用棍子打你的屁股.

embarrass 窘迫

em-, 进入，使。bar, 阻止。-ass, 大词后缀，见largess.

embarrass

embarrass: [17] As in the case of embargo, the etymological meaning of embarrass is ‘put behind bars’. It comes ultimately from Italian imbarrare ‘surround with bars’, hence ‘impede’, a compound verb formed from the prefix in- ‘in’ and Vulgar Latin *barra ‘bar’ (source of English bar). From this was derived imbarazzare, which passed into English via Spanish embarazar and French embarrasser. Its original meaning ‘impede, hamper’ remains in use, chiefly in the context ‘financially embarrassed’, but has been overtaken in frequency by ‘disconcert’.
=> bar, barrier

embarrass (v.)

1670s, "perplex, throw into doubt," from French embarrasser (16c.), literally "to block," from Italian imbarrazzo, from imbarrare "to bar," from assimilated form of in- "into, upon" (see in- (2)) + Vulgar Latin *barra "bar" (see bar (n.1)).

Meaning "to hamper, hinder" is from 1680s. Meaning "make (someone) feel awkward" first recorded 1828. Original sense preserved in embarras de richesse (1751), from French (1726): the condition of having more wealth than one knows what to do with. Related: Embarrassed; embarrassing; embarrassingly.

1. I did not embarrass her with my effusions.

我并没有太过热情而让她为难。

2. She may embarrass you with her uncouth behavior.

她的粗野行为可能会让你尴尬.

3. He didn't mean to embarrass you.

他不是成心让你难堪.

4. He has decided that he doesn't want to embarrass the movement and will therefore step down.

他已拿定主意：他不想令运动陷入困窘的境地，因此决心辞职。

5. The Republicans are trying to embarrass the president by thwarting his economic program.

共和党人企图通过阻挠总统的经济计划使其难堪。

【puzzle, confound, bewilder, perplex, confuse, distract, embarrass, baffle】
这组词都有“使困惑、迷惑、糊涂、伤脑筋”的意思，其区别是：
puzzle: 侧重使人难于理解、困惑、伤脑筋。
confound: 常指人惊慌失措和狼狈不堪。
bewilder: 语气强烈，指因迷不解或惊愕而慌乱，不知所措，无法清醒地思考。
perplex: 除困惑外，还含焦虑或缺乏把握之意，因而难于作出决定，无从下手处理。
confuse: 语气较弱，指由于混淆、混乱而糊涂。
distract: 主要用于注意力分散、思想矛盾或过分激动时产生的昏乱。
embarrass: 常指因处境或困难问题而感到窘迫、局促不安或焦急而不知所措。
baffle: 语气最强，多指遇见奇怪情景或复杂困难情况时所产生的惶恐困惑心理。