embroiled
Americanadjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of embroiled
Explanation
When you're embroiled in something, you're tangled or mired in it — in other words, you're involved so completely that it's hard to get away from it. You might be embroiled in an argument between two friends, unable to step back and be neutral. Two warring countries might be embroiled in peace talks, or two characters on your favorite TV show could be embroiled in a scandal. In either case, people are tangled in a complicated situation or a serious conflict. The earliest meaning of embroil was "throw into disorder," from the French root embrouillier, "entangle or confuse."
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.
Embroiled in a fight to avoid relegation, Stuttgart had plenty of chances to exploit defensive errors from Leipzig but couldn’t convert enough of them.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 27, 2023
Embroiled in a dispute with a tenured professor and the university’s librarian, he spent his 32nd birthday penning a three-page “letter of protest” to the Austrian Society of Communication.
From New York Times • Sep. 10, 2021
Embroiled in both economic and political crisis, Gordon Brown spotted President Obama's election as an opportunity to be touched by the gold dust of the newly elected president.
From BBC • Jan. 25, 2017
Embroiled in a scandal over unauthorized customer accounts, Wells Fargo & Co faces a steep challenge in overhauling its hard-charging sales culture without gutting profits.
From Reuters • Oct. 12, 2016
Embroiled with the Court and her brothers, abandoned by La Rochefoucauld, in the decline of her beauty, upon the eve of maturity, she saw in Heaven alone a refuge against others and herself.
From Political Women, Vol. 2 by Menzies, Sutherland, fl. 1840-1883
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.
