Etymology

embarrassment of riches

Today it means: An abundance or overabundance of something; too much of a good thing. Full definition →

French embarras des richesses
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The story

  1. French · calque ofembarras des richesses
  2. English todayembarrassment of riches

Calque of French embarras des richesses, from John Ozell's 1738 translation of a French play, L'Embarras des richesses (1726) by Léonor Jean Christine Soulas d'Allainval.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.