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Reluctant vs Embarrass - What's the difference?

reluctant | embarrass |

As an adjective reluctant

is opposing; offering resistance (to).

As a verb embarrass is

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

reluctant

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Opposing; offering resistance (to).
  • * 1819 , Lord Byron, Don Juan , II.108:
  • There, breathless, with his digging nails he clung / Fast to the sand, lest the returning wave, / From whose reluctant roar his life he wrung, / Should suck him back to her insatiate grave [...].
  • * 2008 , Kern Alexander et al., The World Trade Organization and Trade in Services , p. 222:
  • They are reluctant to the inclusion of a necessity test, especially of a horizontal nature, and emphasize, instead, the importance of procedural disciplines [...].
  • Not wanting to take some action; unwilling.
  • She was reluctant to lend him the money

    Synonyms

    * unwilling, disinclined

    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