wreathe
Americanverb (used with object)
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wreathes,
present (3rd person singular)
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wreathed,
past participle, past
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wreathen,
past participle (Archaic)
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wreathing
present participle
verb
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to form into or take the form of a wreath by intertwining or twisting together
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(tr) to decorate, crown, or encircle with wreaths
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to move or cause to move in a twisting way
smoke wreathed up to the ceiling
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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wreathesimple
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wreathessimple
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have wreathedperfect
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have wreathenperfect
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has wreathedperfect
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has wreathenperfect
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am wreathingprogressive
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are wreathingprogressive
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is wreathingprogressive
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have been wreathingperfect progressive
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has been wreathingperfect progressive
Past
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wreathedsimple
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had wreathedperfect
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had wreathenperfect
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was wreathingprogressive
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were wreathingprogressive
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had been wreathingperfect progressive
Future
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
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.
See Examples For:
But if she and her wreathe of shadow-selves are looking for labels, “writer” suits them all just fine.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2017
Two bizarre plotlines wreathe around each other in “The Dark Room.”
From Washington Post ● Jan. 6, 2017
About 1,300 active satellites wreathe the globe in a crowded nest of orbits, providing worldwide communications, GPS navigation, weather forecasting and planetary surveillance.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 10, 2015
His bald head is radiant, his skull capacious, and the black hair at his temples resembles nothing so much as the laurel leaves that used to wreathe the heads of victorious Roman generals.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 16, 2012
The farmer’s daughter tended it with loving care; she would comb its coat and wreathe its horns with garlands.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
"It has come up before that the wreathes themselves are purchased from a related entity," he said.
From Fox News ● Dec. 14, 2021
There also are ovals, tubes, spirals and two variations on the cagelike sphere known as a Buckyball: Shanti Norris juxtaposes solid and empty, and Olivia Morrow wreathes band-saw blades in a tense equilibrium.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 19, 2017
There was the Instagram tribute, a picture of wreathes in front of the building named for Tillman, “honoring” the victims of the shooting in the Charleston church.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 9, 2015
Earlier, DUP minister Arlene Foster joined UK party leaders in laying wreathes at the Cenotaph in London.
From BBC ● May 8, 2015
Scattered around it were faded wreathes and crushed bouquets of plastic flowers, which made the place seem even sadder.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
Jesus's first goal since January 1 left Arteta wreathed in smiles and Watkins' close-range strike in stoppage-time couldn't stop Arsenal revelling in their statement victory.
From Barron's ● Dec. 30, 2025
Mr. Chen shows the family trundling in a horse-drawn cart toward forbidding mountains wreathed in mist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025
The crosses throughout a bizarre realm wreathed in shadow mark sites where he has shed his corporeal flesh.
From New York Times ● Jun. 18, 2024
Pictures of the victims’ faces were wreathed with white roses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2023
The arrangment of the figures recalls that of classical Graces, or else of the different-colored children wreathed around Jesus on the front of my old Sunday school paper.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
And over the heads of the twain did hover winged Cupids and watched them laughingly, whiles fair dames and their gallants, their brows wreathen with flowers, footed it on the lush grass.
From The Merrie Tales of Jacques Tournebroche And Child Life in Town and Country by A. R. (Alfred Richard) Allinson
The latter is completely concealed in a May-bush, wears a wooden crown wreathen with flowers, and carries a wooden sword.
From The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer
The peculiar iron rain happens because one side of the planet perpetually faces its parent star, wreathing one side of the planet in eternal daylight.
From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2020
A central garden atrium, with a translucent roof faced with more lath, is the home’s hub — all rooms pivot off that fulcrum, wreathing the space and its 12-foot-high ceilings with glass.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2019
It is just one of three fires wreathing parts of the Golden State in smoke.
From Economist ● Aug. 18, 2016
And so she gave in, thanking him, wreathing her face with delight, even though she wished the diamonds were bigger.
From New York Times ● Jun. 28, 2016
His slate-blue eyes pierced through the veil of smoke wreathing his features.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
