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
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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
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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:
Viewing an early medieval embroidery close up is quite something.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
At Vollpension cafe in Vienna’s lively Wieden district, guests are welcomed by a silver-haired hostess who seats them around coffee tables in a room laden with embroidery.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
For its cross-Channel journey, the tapestry has been "folded up like a curtain" and "put in a very, very high-tech container" with climate and vibration controls to protect the delicate embroidery.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
I’ve seen it on many products, in many different presentations — pink-glitter bubble letters on a sticker, loopy black cursive on a tote bag, industrial embroidery on a hat.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
He rushed to her side and laid the embroidery on her.
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
Also designed by Hartnell, the Queen's 1953 Coronation dress was made from silk produced in Kent and features gold bugle beads, diamantés and pearls in exquisitely designed embroideries.
From BBC ● Dec. 26, 2025
Famed mass placard displays in stadiums often feature wartime imagery, and foreign tourists can buy posters and embroideries of soldiers and partisans in Pyongyang.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 26, 2023
Ray Materson’s embroideries are astonishing for their size and intricacy: detailed images rendered in rectangles that never measure more than 5 ¼ inches on either side.
From New York Times ● Mar. 2, 2023
It led on to fastidious embroideries and jacquards on loose coats in speckled mint and sand with often-oversize or upturned collars, laded with an air of the 80s.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 5, 2022
She too was dressed in an outfit similar to the man’s, except hers had a few cheap embroideries.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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.
