embarrassingly

em·bar·rass·ing·ly
E1M3B3A1R1R1A1S1S1I1N1G2L1Y4
UK/ɪmˈbæɹəsɪŋli/UK/ɛm-/US/əmˈbɛɹəsɪŋli/

adverb

In an embarrassing manner.

“He stumbled embarrassingly about the dance floor.”

UncommonScrabble 22

Meanings

adverbembarrassingly (comparative more embarrassingly, superlative most embarrassingly)

comparative more embarrassingly · superlative most embarrassingly

  1. In an embarrassing manner.

    He stumbled embarrassingly about the dance floor.

  2. To the point of embarrassment; to an extreme or bewildering degree.

    He soon became not merely tipsy, but embarrassingly drunk.

    2 more examples

    He was presented with an embarrassingly long list of options.

    This is the first Christmas, her mother reports, that Shirley Temple has been sure there isn’t a real Santa Claus. Last season she was embarrassingly curious about the numerous Messrs. Claus she saw on the streets and in department stores.

    1938 December 20, Paul Harrison, “Harrison in Hollywood: The Movie Folk Will Leave Town Come Christmas Week-End, and All”, in The Harlan Daily Enterprise, volume 37, number 300, Harlan, Ky., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 6, column 8
  3. Causing embarrassment.

    Embarrassingly to me, my companion soon got drunk.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

  1. Englishembarrassing
  2. Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
  3. Proto-Germanic*līką
  4. Englishembarrassingly

From embarrassing + -ly.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

embarrassingly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/embarrassingly

MLA

“embarrassingly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/embarrassingly. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “embarrassingly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/embarrassingly.

Source: embarrassingly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.