Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

embarrassment of riches

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.36 in modern English

Syllables: em-bar-rass-men-t of rich-es
IPA

35

Scrabble Score

21

Letters

6

Syllables

13

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An abundance or overabundance of something; too much of a good thing.

Example Sentences

"Roger was in the library, trying to choose, from an embarrassment of riches, the ten of his father's books which he was to be permitted to take to the city."
"What might be an embarrassment of riches—a city with three independent and artistically distinct opera companies—may become a lose-lose-lose situation."

Etymology

Calque of French embarras des richesses, from John Ozell's 1738 translation of a French play, L'Embarras des richesses (1726) by Léonor Jean Christine Soulas d'Allainval.

Inflected Forms

embarrassments of riches (plural)

Questions

What does embarrassment of riches mean?: An abundance or overabundance of something; too much of a good thing.
Where does embarrassment of riches come from?: Calque of French embarras des richesses, from John Ozell's 1738 translation of a French play, L'Embarras des richesses (1726) by Léonor Jean Christine Soulas d'Allainval.

How to pronounce embarrassment of riches

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