embarrassment of riches
Too much good
An embarrassment of riches is an overabundance of good things—so many options or resources that choosing becomes difficult or the surplus itself becomes a problem.
The phrase carries light irony: having too much of what others want is hardly a real hardship.
With three job offers on the table, she faced an embarrassment of riches.
- superabundanceExtreme excess of something
- profusionExtravagant amount present
- plentySufficient quantity, and then some
- more than enoughQuantity exceeding necessity
- excessSurplus beyond need
too much of a good thing · wealth · rolling in it · analysis paralysis · paradox · surfeit · prosperity · spoilt for choice · plethora · dilemma · ambivalence · opulence · cornucopia · decision fatigue · bounty · luxury · golden handcuffs · affluence
- excessexcess, too much, excessive, excessiveness, overabundance
- quantitiessome, many, few, amount, several
embarrassment of richesHobson's choice
Illusory selection, one possibility
no choice · take it or leave it · only option · choicelessness · last resort
embarrass, embarrassed, embarrassing, embarrassingly, embarrassment, riches, richness, richer, richest