Synonyms

wreathe

American

[reeth] / rið /

verb (used with object)

wreathed, wreathed, wreathen, wreathing

to encircle or adorn with or as with a wreath.
to form as a wreath by twisting or twining.
to surround in curving or curling masses or form.
to envelop.

a face wreathed in smiles.

verb (used without object)

wreathed, wreathed, wreathen, wreathing

to take the form of a wreath or wreaths.
to move in curving or curling masses, as smoke.

wreathe British

/ riːð /

verb

to form into or take the form of a wreath by intertwining or twisting together
(tr) to decorate, crown, or encircle with wreaths
to move or cause to move in a twisting way

smoke wreathed up to the ceiling

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of wreathe

1520–30; earlier wrethe, partly v. use of wreath, partly back formation from wrethen, obsolete past participle of writhe

Vocabulary lists containing wreathe

"The Love Song J. Alfred Prufrock" by T. S. Eliot

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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.

Wreathe with flowers the weighty yoke Might of mortal never broke!

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 57, July, 1862 by Various

And some—who bear a flag unfurled— Wreathe with their rose the flag they bear, And sing their banner for the world, And for their heart the roses there.

From Reviews by Wilde, Oscar

—So shall with pious hands immortal Fame Wreathe all her laurels round thy honour'd name, High o'er thy tomb with chissel bold engrave, "The truly noble are the good and brave."

From Zoonomia, Vol. II Or, the Laws of Organic Life by Darwin, Erasmus

Wreathe in a garland the corn's golden ear!

From The Poems of Schiller — Third period by Schiller, Friedrich

A hundred waxen tapers shine From silver sconces; softly pine 'Cello, fiddle, mandoline, To music deftly wooed — And dancers in cambric, satin, silk, With glancing hair and cheeks like milk, Wreathe, curtsey, intertwine.

From Georgian Poetry 1920-22 by Marsh, Edward Howard, Sir

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023