An Embarrassment of Riches: What does that mean? Is it embarrassing to be rich?

1. It means too much of a good thing.

2.  I wouldn't know. 


This post was edited by Harry at April 12, 2017 9:46 AM MDT

Amongst poor people methink it can be. Like in line to buy a lottery ticket with your American Express Gold Card. This post was edited by O-uknow at April 12, 2017 9:37 AM MDT

It means having so many of something that choosing amongst them is difficult.  

Is a collective noun, same as A Murder of Crows.. It means two or more rich people together

It depends on how one became rich.. if it were at the expense of others cheating. lying, abusing others.. then yes that person should be embarassed

Hi Flipper,
Say that you were the director of theater in a small-town play, and 29 superb professional actors turned out for only three leading roles. And they were all jealous of each other, and going to get very miffed if they were not chosen...well you are in trouble, and your problem is called embarrassment of riches.

Or, you are a middle class family, and suddenly all the kids reach age 16 and start coming home with fancy cars. Well now you have four big shiny new autos and your modest little driveway barely holds two, and all the neighbors are laughing; yes, embarrassment of riches!

Maybe you go to the big city for a couple of days, and want to sample their finer restaurants...except you discover this city has 29 superb gourmet restaurants, no way to choose among them in your three days in town...

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Apparently the term has been around (in English) since 1738, from the translation of a play in French, and Cambridge Dictionary defines it as: "so many good things or people that it is impossible to decide which of them you want."

Is it embarrassing you ask?  It would be if I were a Kardashian. 

An embarrassment of riches is an idiom that means an overabundance of something, or too much of a good thing, that originated in 1738 as John Ozell's translation of a French play, L'Embarras des richesses (1726), by Léonor Jean Christine Soulas d'Allainval.
Example: "All four of them have their own cars but there's no room in the driveway—an embarrassment of riches".  (Wikipedia)

And I think the Kardashians would be embarrassing even if they were poor.