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.
Today, though, the discipline is embroiled in an ideological and existential battle of its own, one that is increasingly public and, at least in part, of its own making.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
The incident spurred Michigan to ask law firm Jenner & Block to investigate the culture inside an athletic department that had been embroiled in a string of scandals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
And to be an American is to be embroiled in the great democratic experiment that has been defined by division from the beginning.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
Starbucks Korea, with more than 2,000 stores nationwide, found itself embroiled in public uproar last month when it ran a "Tank Day" promotion evoking a deadly military crackdown on a 1980 pro-democracy uprising.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
So instead of the peaceful, happy, safe Christmas vacation I had dreamed of for months, I was embroiled in integration meetings and worry.
From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals
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.
