embroidery
Americannoun
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the art of working raised and ornamental designs in threads of silk, cotton, gold, silver, or other material, upon any woven fabric, leather, paper, etc., with a needle.
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embroidered work or ornamentation.
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elaboration or embellishment, as in telling a story.
noun
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decorative needlework done usually on loosely woven cloth or canvas, often being a picture or pattern
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elaboration or exaggeration, esp in writing or reporting; embellishment
Etymology
Origin of embroidery
1350–1400; Middle English embrouderie needlework on cloth < Middle French embroud ( er ) + Middle English -erie -ery; oi from embroider
Compare meaning
How does embroidery compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Embroidery is the act of decorating a piece of cloth with a stitched design. You may have seen large medieval examples of embroidery hanging on the walls of museums depicting flowers and wild animals and the like. Embroidery also has a common figurative meaning of something deceptive, or an excessive and unnecessary detail designed to mislead, or simply something vain and foolish (see embellishment.) The great American designer Buckminster Fuller summed up this sense of the word nicely: "Tombs are the clothes of the dead and a grave is a plain suit; while an expensive monument is one with embroidery."
Vocabulary lists containing embroidery
The Breadwinner
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"Uprising," Vocabulary from the historical novel
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On Trend: Fashionable Words
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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.
At age 78—just two years before the Gimbels show—Moses had swapped her life of farm work and domestic chores for the brush and easel, turning to painting after arthritis ended her endeavors in embroidery.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026
She hosts monthly arts and crafts workshops including activities like scrapbooking, punch needle embroidery and clay art.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 23, 2026
The 70m-long embroidery, widely believed to have been created in Kent, goes on display in September.
From BBC • Mar. 21, 2026
The embroidery teacher lost her job in December when the programme was discontinued, as part of broader aid cuts hitting people across Afghanistan.
From Barron's • Feb. 18, 2026
He rushed to her side and laid the embroidery on her.
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
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.
