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Synonyms

emblazon

American  
[em-blay-zuhn] / ɛmˈbleɪ zən /

verb (used with object)

  • emblazons,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • emblazoned,
    past participle,  past
  • emblazoning
    present participle
  1. to put a design on (a surface) in a prominent place.

    The shirt was emblazoned with the company's motto.

  2. Heraldry. to put (a design or depiction) on a coat of arms.

  3. to proclaim; celebrate or extol.


emblazon British  
/ ɪmˈbleɪzən /

verb

  1. to describe, portray, or colour (arms) according to the conventions of heraldry

  2. to portray heraldic arms on (a shield, one's notepaper, etc)

  3. to make bright or splendid, as with colours, flowers, etc

  4. to glorify, praise, or extol, often so as to attract great publicity

    his feat was emblazoned on the front page

"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

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Inflected Forms

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Conjugated Forms

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Past

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Etymology

Origin of emblazon

First recorded in 1585–95; em- 1 + blazon


Explanation

To emblazon is to decorate something with words or symbols. If you're running for student council, you might emblazon t-shirts with your name and hand them out to your classmates. The word emblazon means the same thing as the word blazon, “to depict or paint armor.” Both words have roots in the English word blaze, in the sense of “to make public.” No one uses blazon anymore, and these days you can emblazon anything—not just armor! Colleges and universities frequently sell sweatshirts and hats emblazoned with their logos, for example.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing emblazon

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:

Raymond often remarked that he wished he could emblazon the company’s headquarters near Dallas with the words “crude oil” so that employees would never lose focus on “what we’re trying to do here.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026

Snyder’s private jets were leased to the team, and Snyder charged the team $4.5 million to emblazon them with the team’s logo as an “advertising fee,” the co-owners wrote in the petition.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 28, 2023

He didn’t emblazon his body with tattoos of revolutionary personalities Che Guevara and Fidel Castro like a great footballer who came after him, the Argentine, Diego Maradona.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 1, 2023

The hotel isn’t much — the tackiness of the lobby furniture, speaking of memories, will emblazon itself on your retina — but Sophie and Calum take most of their setbacks and letdowns in stride.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2022

He might emblazon this on his arms, or tattoo it on any other part of his system where he thought it would be becoming to his complexion.

From Remarks by Bill Nye

The “Non-GMO Project” butterfly label emblazons more than 55,000 organic and nonorganic products on supermarket shelves today—many of which have no GMO counterpart or couldn’t possibly contain GMOs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2018

A giant mural depicting the Manneken Pis in a jacket and jeans emblazons the side of the museum building.

From Reuters ● Feb. 3, 2017

In Orange County, California, the Voice of OC, emblazons its mission on either side of its masthead: “Give voice to the voiceless” and “Hold people in power accountable.”

From Salon ● Dec. 30, 2016

Florida has a long and rich agricultural history, a bond so ingrained in the state’s identity that the venerated orange emblazons the state’s license plate.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 17, 2016

The result is imagery that emblazons itself on your mind with a fever-dream intensity.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 13, 2016

Clad in caps and jackets emblazoned with their respective national symbols, Lantratova and Lubinets, often appearing side-by-side, on Friday oversaw the local ceasefire in the Russia-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky.

From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026

Zuckerberg spoke alongside Wang at the same keynote address, wearing his new Hillsong pastor drip, the T-shirt this time emblazoned with the slogan “Building is my love language.”

From Slate ● Oct. 3, 2026

There were tributes pre-match to captain Farrell, who announced he will retire at the end of the season, as Wigan's players warmed up with t-shirts emblazoned with Faz 12.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

The gallery was filled with the victims’ relatives, many of them wearing white T-shirts emblazoned with a picture of the victims and the phrase “forever in our hearts.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

Between one commonly named boy and the next, I rushed forward and emblazoned, sometimes with a terrible screech, the details of my re­birth.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

Or sell out by emblazoning its members’ faces on the most benign everyday items, including lunchboxes, action figures and makeup brands.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2023

The quips literally add insult to injury, defaming the victim immediately after their demise, emblazoning the death with a caption, like a perverse eulogy.

From Salon ● Nov. 27, 2021

Garber’s style combined realism and fantasy, precise draftsmanship and decorative technique, emblazoning all in vibrant, shimmering colors.

From Washington Times ● Aug. 1, 2020

But as Grover points out, Chinese tech companies have been eager to participate in other ways, placing statistics about new diagnoses in prominent places and emblazoning apps with patriotic messages encouraging national unity.

From The Verge ● Apr. 9, 2020

In stately procession their rich, gleaming figures moved to and fro in groups of twos and threes, emblazoning the dusky air with warm colors.

From AE in the Irish Theosophist by George William Russell

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