e-barrassment

noun

Humiliation as a result of sending an email with embarrassing mistakes.

OriginEnglish embarrassment ← French embarrasser ← Spanish embarazar →
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Meanings

noune-barrassment (uncountable)
  1. InternetinformalneologismuncountableHumiliation as a result of sending an email with embarrassing mistakes.

    How to prevent 'e-barrassment'.

    2015 June 23, Hayley Tsukayama, “Ever send an e-mail you wish you could take back? Now, in Gmail, you can.”, in Washington Post
    3 more examples

    yeah, it's e-barrassment. like e-mail.

    2007 April 10, “1st place baby!”, in alt.sports.baseball.atlanta-braves (Usenet)

    Email etiquette and the risky reply-all were highlighted as one Australian lawyer made a major email faux pas, leading to his sacking.

    2012 March 3, “From the vault: Aussie lawyer's "e-barrassment" over email faux pas”, in Lawyers Weekly, archived from the original on 20 Sep 2022

    You know what the English language needs? A word for the hot, sickening feeling you get when you accidentally hit "Reply All," subsequently broadcasting a private message to a much larger group. Maybe we should call it e-barrassment. Or forwardboding. Or Sents insensibility.

    2019 January 17, David Pogue, “How to Handle the Dreaded 'Reply All Moment'”, in New York Times

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron)
  2. Latinēlectrum
  3. New Latinēlectricus
  4. Englishelectric
  5. Proto-Indo-European*h₁ey-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éyti
  7. Proto-Hellenic*éimi
  8. Ancient Greekἰόν (ión)
  9. Englishion
  10. Englishelectron
  11. Englishelectronic
  12. Proto-Indo-European*molko-der.?
  13. Proto-Germanic*malhō
  14. Frankish*malha
  15. Medieval Latinmala
  16. Anglo-Normanmale
  17. Old Frenchmale
  18. Middle Englishmale
  19. Englishmail
  20. Englishelectronic mailabbr.
  21. Englishemail
  22. Akkadian𒆟 (rakāsum)
  23. Akkadian𒄙 (markasu)
  24. Classical Syriacܡܰܪܫܳܐ (maršā)
  25. Arabicمَرَسَة (marasa)
  26. Old Galician-Portuguesebaraço
  27. Old Galician-Portugueseembaraçar
  28. Old Spanishembaraçar
  29. Spanishembarazar
  30. Frenchembarrasser
  31. Englishembarrass
  32. Englishembarrassment
  33. Englishe-barrassment

Blend of email + embarrassment. See e-.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

e-barrassment. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/e-barrassment

MLA

“e-barrassment.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/e-barrassment. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “e-barrassment,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/e-barrassment.

Source: e-barrassment on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.