To rattle to disconcert; make frightened or anxious; to worry or make nervous (, ; , ) stresses the emotional agitation accompanying the upset and implies a more complete disorganization of one's mental processes
The jeering rattled the team and caused them to play badly
rattled by hypothetical eyes spying on her
To be rattled by smth.
It rattled me to realize how close we had been to a real catastrophe. , , .
The quiet deliberate footsteps approaching my door really rattled me/got me rattled.
She was obviously rattled by the question.
To embarrass to cause (someone) to feel anxious or uncomfortable ( , , ; , ) characteristically implies some influence which impedes freedom of thought, speech, or action and may be used with reference not only to persons but also to the things they plan or desire to do. When said of persons it commonly implies and often stresses resulting uneasiness or constraint.
To be embarrassed about smth., to embarrass smb. by doing smth.
I was really embarrassed when I knocked the cup of tea over my teacher.
It embarrassed him to be caught cheating. , .
He embarrassed everyone by saying the picture was dreadful.
(humorous) You might say that someone is financially embarrassed to avoid saying that they do not have enough money.
I'll have to pay you next week I'm financially embarrassed at present.
a course of legislation... which... embarrassed all transactions between individuals, by dispensing with a faithful performance of engagements
he had, he knew, a sort of charmit embarrassed him even to admit it
I was upset... and embarrassed by the crude and childish manner in which the townspeople were reduced to caricatures
To discomfit 1) to make uneasy, confused, feel uncomfortable, esp. mentally 2) to frustrate the plans or purpose of 3) (archaic) to defeat in battle (1) , 2) , () 3) ( ) to make (someone))
To discomfit typically retains some of its basic denotation of to put to rout; in such use it implies opposition and the competence with which one opponent routs the other and crushes his self-esteem or self-complacency or throws him into confusion or, sometimes, thwarts his wishes, his hopes, or his plans
an answer that completely discomfited the brash young man
Bradley's polemical irony and his obvious zest in using it, his habit of discomfiting an opponent with a sudden profession of ignorance, of inability to understand, or of incapacity for abstruse thought
the Prime Minister began badly. Discomfited by Labor heckling from the front bench opposite, Eden lost his usual urbanity
thieves discomfited by a wakeful dog
Socratic method... and earned among generations of discomfited students the designation Stinker Taussig
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At times discomfit is used with much weakened force and then loses its suggestion of active opponency and implies no more than to make uncomfortable or embarrass
it is discomfiting to recall the high hopes with which the states that had joined hands to defeat Fascism founded the United Nations
he drew discomfited chuckles from them in response to his garish laughter
she may heckle the dealer, add a running commentary to the demonstrations, or just assume a discomfiting smugness
To be discomfited by smth.
I felt regret that I had inconvenienced and discomfited whoever was bumped off the plane so that I could have my seat.
The bus swerved around tight curves, greatly discomfiting the foreign tourists in the back seats.
Her courage in reporting these issues has discomfited the powers-that-be.
He is interviewed rarely and clearly finds it a discomfiting experience.
To abash to cause to feel ill at ease, embarrassed, or confused; make ashamed (, ; ), presupposes self-confidence or self-possession and implies a usually sudden check to that mood by some influence that awakens shyness or a conviction of error or inferiority or, sometimes, of shame
a man whom no denial, no scorn could abash
abashed by the base motives she found herself attributing to Charlotte
Abashed embarrassed and awkward in someone's presence, especially because of something you have done or said that they do not approve of
She blushed, clearly abashed, and did not reply.
He looked rather abashed at her criticisms.
There was an abashed grin on Ted's face as he said, "Sorry, I guess I made a mistake."
To faze to surprise and worry (someone) (, ; , , ), is found chiefly in negative expressions
neither rebuffs nor threats faze him in the least
it hit Marciano flush on the right side of the jaw, but it didn't seem to faze him a bit
It didn't faze me.
Nothing seems to faze him
No one is fazed by the sight of guns here life has become cheap in the ghetto.
