embolden
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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emboldensimple
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emboldenssimple
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have emboldenedperfect
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has emboldenedperfect
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am emboldeningprogressive
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are emboldeningprogressive
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is emboldeningprogressive
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have been emboldeningperfect progressive
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has been emboldeningperfect progressive
Past
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emboldenedsimple
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had emboldenedperfect
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was emboldeningprogressive
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were emboldeningprogressive
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had been emboldeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of embolden
Explanation
To embolden someone is to inspire them. You might embolden your brother to try out for a play by enthusiastically praising his singing and dancing abilities. Shy kids sometimes need a friend or a teacher who will embolden them to speak up for themselves, and a good grade in a difficult class will embolden a student to attempt more challenging courses. When you cheer up a friend or encourage a coworker, you embolden those people. To embolden is "to make bold," from the Old English root word beald, which means "brave, confident, or strong."
Vocabulary lists containing embolden
A Thousand Splendid Suns
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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.
See Examples For:
An emphatic victory for Takaichi and her Liberal Democratic Party would cement her grip on power and embolden her to pursue her vision of revitalizing Japan’s economy and raising stagnant incomes with aggressive fiscal spending.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 7, 2026
The question is whether it will embolden Washington as it seeks effective control of infrastructure assets owned or controlled by Chinese companies.
From Barron's ● Jan. 30, 2026
"Restricting access to these essential services not only endanger lives but embolden authorities to conceal and evade accountability for human rights abuses," it said.
From BBC ● Jan. 18, 2026
"A US strike could embolden the protesters and distract the regime," he added.
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2026
This would embolden her husband, she was certain.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
The pattern is familiar: Elites hesitate to name antisemitism clearly for fear of inflaming tensions, only to discover that ambiguity emboldens extremists rather than restraining them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025
"But if it fizzles out, then it emboldens politicians to do what they want," he noted.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2025
Inaction only emboldens the Truman’s enemies, which in this case include gravity and potentially an octopus, and encourages further mischief.
From Slate ● May 8, 2025
Yossy Arefi, who adds lemon for brightness—it emboldens the earthiness of the carrots.
From Salon ● Apr. 15, 2025
Still, it emboldens her to do another thing she hasn’t been able to do—to see what she’s been missing.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
Despite being undermanned, they managed to withstand an emboldened Bosnia attack and find the back of the net again when Malik Tillman curled home a free kick in the 82nd minute.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
They may even feel emboldened to misbehave again.
From Slate ● Jun. 8, 2026
China's President Xi Jinping made a rare visit to North Korea on Monday, where he met an emboldened Kim Jong Un who has drawn closer to Moscow while expanding his country's nuclear weapons programme.
From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026
Instead, it emboldened a new generation of fakers who saw the easy money he made off eager buyers and realized that others involved in the fraud weren’t held accountable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026
According to Andrews and a dissenting California Supreme Court judge, the ruling didn’t prevent commercialization; it just took patients out of the equation and emboldened scientists to commodify tissues in increasing numbers.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
Benson Zimba, a Zambian environmental activist, said a soft approach by the government toward Sino-Metals risks emboldening Chinese mining companies to flout environmental laws.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
That Foster can do it so seamlessly is not just remarkable; it’s emboldening.
From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2026
Over the past week, investors paid particular attention as four out of the “Magnificent Seven” megacap tech stocks reported earnings, with results that spooked some investors while emboldening others.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2025
Allowing agents to mask indiscriminately doesn’t just protect them; it also risks emboldening them to stretch the boundaries of the law.
From Slate ● Jun. 17, 2025
The aspects of nature were less massive and awe-inspiring, her features more subdued, and her areas more circumscribed and broken, inviting and emboldening man to attempt her conquest.
From Christianity and Greek Philosophy or, the relation between spontaneous and reflective thought in Greece and the positive teaching of Christ and His Apostles by Cocker, B. F. (Benjamin Franklin)
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.
