different between complicate vs embarrass

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin complicatus, past participle of complicare (“to fold together”), from com- (“together”) + plicare (“to fold, weave, knit”); see plaid, and compare complex.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?k?mpl?ke?t/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k?mpl?ke?t/
• Hyphenation: com?pli?cate

Verb

complicate (third-person singular simple present complicates, present participle complicating, simple past and past participle complicated)

1. (transitive) To make complex; to modify so as to make something intricate or difficult.
   • 1896, Arthur Edward Waite, Devil-Worship in France, or the Question of Lucifer Chapter 14

     Let us, however, put aside for the moment the mendacities and forgeries which complicate the question of Lucifer, and let us approach Palladism from an altogether different side.

2. (transitive) To involve in a convoluted matter.

   Don't complicate yourself in issues that are beyond the scope of your understanding.

   John has been complicated in the affair by new tapes that surfaced.

   The DA has made every effort to complicate me in the scandal.

Synonyms

• (involve in a convoluted matter): intricate, entangle, embroil, mix up (in something), mire

Related terms

• complication
• explicate

Translations

See also

• complex

Adjective

complicate (comparative more complicate, superlative most complicate)

1. (obsolete) Intertwined.
2. (now rare, poetic) Complex, complicated.
   • 1745, Edward Young, Night-Thoughts, I:

     How poor, how rich, how abject, how august, / How complicate, how wonderful, is Man!

Further reading

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

Italian

Adjective

complicate

1. feminine plural of complicato

Verb

complicate

1. second-person plural present indicative of complicare
2. second-person plural imperative of complicare
3. feminine plural of complicato

Latin

Verb

complic?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of complic?

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French embarrasser (“to block, to obstruct”), from Spanish embarazar, from Portuguese embaraçar, from em- (“in”) (from Latin im-) + baraço (“noose, rope”), the latter ultimately being from Akkadian ???? (KEŠDA /rak?su/, “to tie”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?bæ.??s/
• (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /?m?b???s/
• Rhymes: -ær?s

Verb

embarrass (third-person singular simple present embarrasses, present participle embarrassing, simple past and past participle embarrassed)

1. (transitive) to humiliate; to disrupt somebody's composure or comfort with acting publicly or freely; to disconcert; to abash

2. (transitive) To hinder from liberty of movement; to impede; to obstruct.
3. (transitive) To involve in difficulties concerning money matters; to encumber with debt; to beset with urgent claims or demands.

Synonyms

• (humiliate): abash, discomfit, disconcert, humiliate, shame
• See also Thesaurus:abash

Derived terms

• embarrassment

Translations

Further reading

• embarrass in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• embarrass in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• “embarrass”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

References

• “embarrass” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.