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Embarrass vs Belittle - What's the difference?

embarrass | belittle |

As verbs the difference between embarrass and belittle

is that embarrass is to humiliate; to disrupt somebody's composure or comfort with acting publicly or freely; to disconcert; to abash while belittle is to knowingly say that something is smaller or less important than it actually is.

embarrass

English

Verb

(es)
  • to humiliate; to disrupt somebody's composure or comfort with acting publicly or freely; to disconcert; to abash
  • The crowd's laughter and jeers embarrassed him.
  • To hinder from liberty of movement; to impede; to obstruct.
  • Business is embarrassed'''; public affairs are '''embarrassed .
  • To involve in difficulties concerning money matters; to encumber with debt; to beset with urgent claims or demands.
  • A man or his business is embarrassed when he can not meet his pecuniary engagements.

    Synonyms

    * (humiliate) abash, discomfit, disconcert, humiliate, shame * See also

    Derived terms

    * embarrassment

    belittle

    English

    Verb

    (belittl)
  • To knowingly say that something is smaller or less important than it actually is.
  • * {{quote-book, year=2006
  • , author=Mark Steyn , title=America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It , chapter=9 , isbn=0895260786 , page=201 , passage=Under the rules as understood by the New York Times'', the West is free to mock and belittle''' its Judeo-Christian inheritance, and, likewise, the Muslim world is free to mock and ' belittle the West's Judeo-Christian inheritance.}}

    See also

    * disparage * denigrate * vilipend