embarrassment
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embarrassment
The state or feeling of awkwardness, shame, and discomfort that arises in an unpleasant or embarrassing situation.
Die Peinlichkeit der Situation war für alle im Raum spürbar.
The embarrassment of the situation was noticeable to everyone in the room.
'Die Peinlichkeit' (embarrassment) is derived from the adjective 'peinlich' (embarrassing). The ending '-keit' turns a quality ('peinlich sein' — to be embarrassing) into a noun. This pattern is very common in German, for example also with 'Ehrlichkeit' (honesty) from 'ehrlich' (honest).
Die Peinlichkeit der Situation war ihm ins Gesicht geschrieben.
The embarrassment of the situation was written all over his face.
The word can be countable or uncountable. When it describes the general feeling of shame, it is uncountable. When it refers to a specific embarrassing action, it is countable and can also appear in the plural ('Peinlichkeiten' — embarrassing incidents).
Er spürte eine Welle der Peinlichkeit.
He felt a wave of embarrassment.
To express the feeling of embarrassment, there are fixed expressions such as 'vor Peinlichkeit im Boden versinken wollen' (to want the ground to swallow you up out of embarrassment) or 'vor Peinlichkeit rot werden' (to turn red with embarrassment).
Als er den Namen vergaß, wäre er am liebsten vor Peinlichkeit im Boden versunken.
When he forgot the name, he would have liked the ground to swallow him up out of embarrassment.
shame
'die Scham' and 'die Peinlichkeit' are closely related because both can arise in unpleasant situations. 'Scham' mainly describes the inner feeling when you feel bad, guilty, or exposed. 'Peinlichkeit' can also refer to the feeling, but very often also to the specific situation or action that is embarrassing. So you can say: a 'Peinlichkeit' happens, and afterward you feel 'Scham'. Learners can easily confuse the words because both have to do with embarrassment. For the feeling, 'Scham' is often appropriate; for the embarrassing incident, 'Peinlichkeit' often fits.
Die falsche Begrüßung beim Vorstellungsgespräch war eine echte Peinlichkeit.
The wrong greeting at the job interview was a real embarrassment.
Die Scham war groß, als sie ihren Fehler vor der ganzen Klasse bemerkte.
The shame was intense when she noticed her mistake in front of the whole class.