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Synonyms

emboldened

American  
[em-bohl-dnd] / ɛmˈboʊl dnd /
Rarely imboldened

adjective

  1. made bold or bolder; given the courage or nerve to do something daring, challenging, or controversial.

    It was unclear whether the missile fire was the work of an emboldened rebel force, the military, or some mixture of both.

verb

  1. the simple past tense and past participle of embolden.

Etymology

Origin of emboldened

embolden ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. )

Vocabulary lists containing emboldened

Metamorphoses

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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.

Emboldened, he is now considering adding bonds to his portfolio.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025

Emboldened by the chaos, Islamist groups began seizing urban centers like the ancient desert city of Timbuktu.

From New York Times • Jun. 7, 2024

Emboldened by the confidence Darrien gives him and the sense of finally having a quantifiable dream, Donny begins spending time at the writer's apartment.

From Salon • Apr. 27, 2024

Emboldened by the redundancy, they could take greater design risks, such as using cheaper, off-the-shelf components that weren’t originally designed for spaceflight.

From Science Magazine • Mar. 14, 2024

Emboldened by his ownership of Martin’s weapon, Matthias tickled the tail lightly with the sword point.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

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.