embarrasséevsembarrasserWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: embarrassée is a adjective, embarrasser is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“embarrassée” is an adjective and “embarrasser” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,242
“embarrassée” frequency rank
#33,669
“embarrasser” frequency rank
73911
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature embarrassée embarrasser
Definition Féminin singulier de embarrassé. Arrêter, gêner par un obstacle.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set embarrassée and embarrasser apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
embarrassée
11 ch
embarrasser

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: embarrassée 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73911, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

embarrassée is recorded at frequency rank #40,242, 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 73911, this pair ranks #38,899 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of embarrassée vs embarrasser

Shared letters: abemrs. Private to "embarrassée": é. Private to "embarrasser": -.

"embarrassée" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVV  ·  "embarrasser" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • embarrasserebmarrasser · emabrrasser · embararsser · embarasser · embarraser · embarrasesr · embarrasserr · embarrassre

Frequency comparison

embarrassée#40,242
embarrasser#33,669

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "embarrassée" and "embarrasser" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "embarrassée" is an adjective and "embarrasser" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "embarrassée" or "embarrasser"?
"embarrasser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,669 in our French list, against #40,242 for "embarrassée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering embarrassée vs embarrasser

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “embarrassée”; for a verb, it's “embarrasser”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “embarrassée” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list