embroider
Americanverb (used with object)
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to decorate with ornamental needlework.
-
to produce or form in needlework.
-
to adorn or embellish rhetorically, especially with ornate language or fictitious details.
He embroidered the account of the shipwreck to hold his listeners' interest.
- Synonyms:
- fancify, color, exaggerate, elaborate
verb (used without object)
-
to do embroidery.
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to add embellishments; exaggerate (often followed by on orupon ).
verb
-
to do decorative needlework (upon)
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to add fictitious or fanciful detail to (a story)
-
to add exaggerated or improbable details to (an account of an event, etc)
Other Word Forms
- embroiderer noun
- overembroider verb (used with object)
- unembroidered adjective
Etymology
Origin of embroider
1350–1400; em- 1 + broider; replacing Middle English embroderen, frequentative of embroden < Middle French embro ( u ) der, equivalent to em- em- 1 + Old French brosder, derivative of brosd < Germanic ( brad )
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.
Decorated across one of the scarves, which Alavi said she would like to wear, she had embroidered purple butterflies taking flight.
From Barron's
She shows off large animal heads, including a rat and a bull, and an embroidered dress with a ruffled hem made for the production of the Handel opera "Alcina".
From Barron's
I reach for the embroidered coin purse I bought in Madrid two summers ago.
From Literature
The book jacket was wrapped in dark blue cloth with embroidered gold leaves twisting like vines and a giant bright eight-pointed star at the center.
From Literature
Among papers scattered in the dusty attic he finds, along with a scarlet and gold embroidered A, the true story of Hester Prynne written by the surveyor from 100 years before.
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.
