discomfiting, a.
Brit. /dɪsˈkʌmfɪtɪŋ/, U.S. /dɪsˈkəmfədɪŋ/
[‹ discomfit v. + -ing suffix2.]
That causes unease or embarrassment; disconcerting.
| ? 1765 B. Wallin Lect. on Primitive Christianity v. xxvi. 428 The subject can hear but little..which is very discomfiting. 1848 Times 15 Dec. 4/6 We cannot forget that the latter committed one or two blunders of an awkward and discomfiting description. 1881 Jrnl. Hellenic Stud. 2 220 Had Pindar meant discomfiting dismissal, πέµπω would hardly have been the word used. 1968 Brit. Jrnl. Psychiatry 114 1458/1 Even more discomfiting is the resurrection of the syndrome of neurasthenia. 2003 Columbia Journalism Rev. Sept.–Oct. 7/1 Identification with the nation's leaders becomes the order of the day, unmarred by discomfiting questions about the state of the emperor's clothes. |