embroil
Americanverb (used with object)
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to bring into discord or conflict; involve in contention or strife.
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to throw into confusion; complicate.
verb
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to involve (a person, oneself, etc) in trouble, conflict, or argument
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to throw (affairs) into a state of confusion or disorder; complicate; entangle
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has embroiledperfect 3rd person singular
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have embroiledperfect
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am embroilingprogressive 1st person singular
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has been embroilingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been embroilingperfect progressive
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is embroilingprogressive 3rd person singular
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are embroilingprogressive
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embroilingparticiple
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embroilssingular 3rd person
Past
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had embroiledperfect
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had been embroilingperfect progressive
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was embroilingprogressive singular
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were embroilingprogressive plural
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embroiledsimple
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embroiledparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of embroil
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Middle French embrouiller, equivalent to em- em- 1 + brouiller “to quarrel”; see broil 2
Explanation
To embroil is to drag someone into a mess. If you're embroiled, you're in deep. Being embroiled is far worse, far messier, and generally far more long-term, than simply being "involved" with something. Nothing good can come of being embroiled. Embroil can refer to any sort of situation — romantic entanglements, political events, scandals — but it's probably most commonly used in reference to lawsuits. The classic lawsuit that embroiled its participants was the fictional case of Jarndyce. v. Jarndyce, in Dickens's novel Bleak House — which went on for so many generations that all the characters' money was eaten up entirely by lawyers' fees. Let us repeat: nothing good comes of getting embroiled.
Vocabulary lists containing embroil
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Grade 12, List 2
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Fast Food Nation
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Those investments, experts say, help prevent regional conflict and war that may embroil the U.S.
From Salon • May 29, 2025
Desperate not to embroil a small, vulnerable immigrant community in an intense national controversy, they tried to avoid the issue.
From Slate • Apr. 10, 2025
Investors were on guard for the potential of the conflict spreading to embroil other countries, including Iran, and a continued spike in oil prices.
From Reuters • Oct. 9, 2023
The tail-docking blowup is just the latest controversy to embroil the company.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 20, 2023
It was now sufficiently obvious that Philippa had, with incredible perfidy, taken advantage of my absence to embroil herself in the entertainment of barbaric royalty.
From Further Experiences of an Irish R.M. by Ross, Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
