embrace
1 Americanverb (used with object)
-
to take or clasp in the arms; press to the bosom; hug.
-
to take or receive gladly or eagerly; accept willingly.
to embrace an idea.
-
to avail oneself of.
to embrace an opportunity.
- Synonyms:
- seize
-
to adopt (a profession, a religion, etc.).
to embrace Buddhism.
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to take in with the eye or the mind.
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to encircle; surround; enclose.
a secret garden embraced by wild shrubs.
-
to include or contain.
An encyclopedia embraces a great number of subjects.
- Antonyms:
- exclude
verb (used without object)
noun
-
embraces
plural
verb (used with object)
verb
-
(also intr) (of a person) to take or clasp (another person) in the arms, or (of two people) to clasp each other, as in affection, greeting, etc; hug
-
to accept (an opportunity, challenge, etc) willingly or eagerly
-
to take up (a new idea, faith, etc); adopt
to embrace Judaism
-
to comprise or include as an integral part
geology embraces the science of mineralogy
-
to encircle or enclose
noun
-
the act of embracing
-
euphemistic (often plural) sexual intercourse
verb
Synonym Usage
See include.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of embrace1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French embracier, equivalent to em- em- 1 + bracier “to embrace,” derivative of brace “the two arms”; see brace
Origin of embrace2
First recorded in 1420–1475; late Middle English: “to influence, prejudice, bribe (a jury),” perhaps the same word as embrace 1
Explanation
To embrace something is to welcome it with open arms, hold, hug, accept completely. You might embrace your sweetheart, or even changes in technology. Embrace is from the French verb embrasser, which started out meaning "to clasp in the arms" (but now includes kissing). You embrace someone by giving her a giant hug, and when you embrace a new idea, it's like your brain gives it a hug. The noun and verb form are similar: If you embrace someone who isn't your sweetheart, you might get caught in an embrace. In Henry IV, Shakespeare writes about a really, really tight embrace: "I will embrace him with a soldier's arm/That he shall shrink under my courtesy."
Vocabulary lists containing embrace
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Of Mice and Men
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"Of Mice and Men"
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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:
In British politics, Hilton earned a reputation as a zany but genius marketer who pushed the Conservative Party to embrace same-sex marriage and climate-friendlier policies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
The Olympic champion and the world silver medallist over 800m embrace by the side of the track after surviving their latest brutal training session together during an east Manchester downpour.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Lai faces a fair amount of public reluctance to embrace crisis-readiness as a way of life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
It disavowed diversity efforts to win the FCC’s blessing but now is facing calls in California to embrace such commitments.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
In Alfhercht’s trembling embrace, Wielaf’s arms dropped and his eyes shut.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
Ultimately, they conclude, finding a new constitutional meaning that actually embraces the public’s true understanding of the document requires returning to our old understanding.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
He hopes his fan base embraces a life of reading.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Pentagon officials have said they want to reduce reliance on individual tech companies as the military embraces AI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Byrd, on the other hand, embraces it all, even without the hazy glow of ’80s-era DV cameras.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026
Flow would she endure the time and distance that separated her from her children, the warmth of their embraces still fresh on her skin as the bus gained the road south?
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
And then in Chief Justice John Roberts’ opinion in the Lisa Cook case, he kind of embraced those in broad form and turned them into the law.
From Slate ● Aug. 16, 2026
Asked whether he had embraced Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again movement, Rubio said he supported it.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
Once they decided to vacation in Atlantic Canada, Kent Truscott and his wife embraced the idea of discovering their own country.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
During almost a decade as the joke candidate in UK politics, Binface has fully embraced the absurd.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
Most of the Scots were Protestants who embraced Calvin’s ideology.
From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
And the court came very close to embracing it.
From Slate ● Aug. 16, 2026
“AI is very likely to make the U.S. economy more productive. If investors believe that, they should be buying the equal-weighted S&P 500 and companies embracing AI in their operations.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 9, 2026
“It’s the first time that I’m properly going into the genre and embracing it and instigating that work,” Anderson says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
He adopted a kinder, more family-friendly public persona while also embracing fatherhood - he has three children via surrogacy.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
She says, “Science is literally the joy of my life. I am literally embracing it right now.”
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
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.
