different between affront vs embarrassment

English

Etymology

From Middle English afrounten, from Old French afronter (“to defy”), from Vulgar Latin *affrontare (“to hit in the face”), from Latin ad (“to”) + fr?ns (“forehead”) (English front).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??f??nt/
• Rhymes: -?nt

Verb

affront (third-person singular simple present affronts, present participle affronting, simple past and past participle affronted)

1. To insult intentionally, especially openly.
2. To meet defiantly; to confront.

   to affront death

   • 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia, Faber & Faber 1992 (Avignon Quintet), p. 436:

     Avignon was beginning to settle down for the night – that long painful stretch of time which must somehow be affronted.

3. (obsolete) To meet or encounter face to face.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:offend

Translations

Noun

affront (plural affronts)

1. An open or intentional offense, slight, or insult.
2. (obsolete) A hostile encounter or meeting.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:offense

Related terms

• effrontery

Translations

References

• “affront”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

French

Etymology

From Old French afront. Synchronically analysable as a deverbal of affronter.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.f???/

Noun

affront m (plural affronts)

1. affront, insult, snub

Derived terms

• afront

Descendants

• ? Polish: afront
• ? Romanian: afront

Further reading

• “affront” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• offrant

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??fr?nt/

Verb

affront (third-person singular present affronts, present participle affrontin, past affrontit, past participle affrontit)

1. to affront; cause to feel ashamed; cause to blush; to humiliate (in front of others), to offend (not necessarily with intention)

References

• Eagle, Andy, ed. (2016) The Online Scots Dictionary, Scots Online.

English

Etymology

From embarrass +? -ment

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?bæ??sm?nt/

Noun

embarrassment (countable and uncountable, plural embarrassments)

1. A state of discomfort arising from bashfulness or consciousness of having violated a social rule; humiliation.
2. A person or thing which is the cause of humiliation to another.

   Kevin, you are an embarrassment to this family.

   Losing this highly publicized case was an embarrassment to the firm.
3. A large collection of good or valuable things, especially one that exceeds requirements.
   • 1914, Collier's, page 30

     There are over 5,000 Americans now in Paris, many artists, singers, musicians, writers, and actors, so many, indeed, the committee could hardly pick a program from an embarrassment of volunteers.

   • 1996, David Morgan Evans, Peter Salway, David Thackray, The Remains of Distant Times: Archaeology and the National Trust, Boydell & Brewer ?ISBN, page 188

     The landscape presented an embarrassment of riches for the industrial archaeologist, and eighteenth- and nineteenth-century remains were still visible in abundance

   • 2013, Frank Boccia, The Crouching Beast: A United States Army Lieutenant's Account of the Battle for Hamburger Hill, May 1969, McFarland ?ISBN, page 256

     At one time, I reflected, we'd had an embarrassment of good, qualified squad leader—ready men in the platoon.

4. A state of confusion; hesitation; uncertainty
5. (medicine) Impairment of function due to disease: respiratory embarrassment.
6. (dated) Difficulty in financial matters; poverty.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• embarrassment in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• embarrassment in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.