noun
1 feeling of being embarrassed
ADJECTIVE
▪ acute , considerable , great
▪ total , utter
▪ slight
▪
She smiled to hide her slight ~.
▪ further
▪ obvious
▪ personal
▪ public
▪
The agreement was made in secret to avoid public ~.
VERB + EMBARRASSMENT
▪ feel
▪
I felt some ~ as we shook hands.
▪ suffer
▪
He suffered great personal ~ after failing the tests.
▪ cover , hide
▪ cause
▪ risk
▪
Pender decided to risk ~ and seek help.
▪ avoid , prevent
▪
The government wishes to avoid further ~ over the affair.
▪ blush with , flush with , squirm with ( esp. BrE )
▪
I still squirm with ~ at the thought of it.
▪ die from , die of ( figurative )
▪
I could have died of ~ when I saw her standing behind me.
▪ ease , relieve
▪ save sb , spare sb
▪
Helen changed the subject to save me the ~ of replying.
PREPOSITION
▪ in ~
▪
We all watched in silent ~ as Mr Rogers started to cry.
▪ with ~ , without ~
▪
I could finally talk about my problem without ~.
▪ ~ at
▪
her ~ at being found out
▪ ~ over
▪
the government's ~ over the affair
PHRASES
▪ (much) to sb's ~
▪
Much to his ~, Mike realized that a small crowd was watching him.
▪ feelings of ~
▪ a flush of ~
▪
A flush of ~ came to her cheeks.
▪ a source of ~
2 sb/sth that makes you embarrassed
ADJECTIVE
▪ great , huge , major , serious , severe ( esp. BrE )
▪ potential
▪ financial , political , social
▪ national
▪
The president became a national ~.
VERB + EMBARRASSMENT
▪ be , become , prove
▪
The protests were becoming something of an ~ to the government.
▪ consider sb/sth
PREPOSITION
▪ ~ for
▪
The episode was a huge ~ for all concerned.
▪ ~ to
▪
The poor child was considered an ~ to his family.