SpellingIQ

How to spell embarrass

embarrass

Not embarass or embarras.

The trap

Double letters

The word embarrass has two Rs and two Ss, and embarass is the spelling that keeps only one R. A doubled letter sounds exactly like a single one, so neither pair gets any help from the ear.

Doubled letters are part of how a word is built, not decoration. The reason behind a double varies from word to word. Often it is an added ending, sometimes the word's history, so the double is learned along with the word.

What it means

verb. To make someone feel awkward or ashamed.

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SpellingIQ is a skill rating for spelling ability, not a clinical or psychometric IQ measure. American English is canonical; common variants are accepted.