Which to use
“embarrassé” is an adjective and “embarrasser” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,049
- “embarrassé” frequency rank
- #33,669
- “embarrasser” frequency rank
- 60718
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | embarrassé | embarrasser |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Arrêté ou gêné par un obstacle. | Arrêter, gêner par un obstacle. |
Same sound, different letters: embarrassé vs embarrasser
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters. embarrassé runs 10 letters (VCCVCCVCCV) against embarrasser's 11 (VCCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - embarrassé and embarrasser
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: embarrassé and embarrasser carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ɑ̃.ba.ʁa.se\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60718, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
embarrassé is recorded at frequency rank #27,049, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɑ̃.ba.ʁa.se\. embarrasser is at rank #33,669, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.ba.ʁa.se\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 60718, this pair ranks #96,169 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of embarrassé vs embarrasser
Shared letters: abemrs. Private to "embarrassé": é. Private to "embarrasser": -.
"embarrassé" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCV · "embarrasser" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- embarrasser ← ebmarrasser · emabrrasser · embararsser · embarasser · embarraser · embarrasesr · embarrasserr · embarrassre
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "embarrassé" and "embarrasser" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "embarrassé" or "embarrasser" show up more?
After this comparison
"embarrassé" and "embarrasser" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "embarrassé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "embarrasser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #96,169 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "embarrassé" and "embarrasser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "embarrassée vs embarrasser". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #96,169 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.