embroider
Americanverb (used with object)
-
embroiders,
present (3rd person singular)
-
embroidered,
past participle, past
-
embroidering
present participle
-
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)
-
embroiders,
present (3rd person singular)
-
embroidered,
past participle, past
-
embroidering
present participle
-
to do embroidery.
-
to add embellishments; exaggerate (often followed by on orupon ).
verb
-
to do decorative needlework (upon)
-
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
embroidersimple
-
embroiderssimple
-
have embroideredperfect
-
has embroideredperfect
-
am embroideringprogressive
-
are embroideringprogressive
-
is embroideringprogressive
-
have been embroideringperfect progressive
-
has been embroideringperfect progressive
Past
-
embroideredsimple
-
had embroideredperfect
-
was embroideringprogressive
-
were embroideringprogressive
-
had been embroideringperfect progressive
Future
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 ( see brad)
Explanation
To embroider means to decorate with needlework. Picture your great grandmother's pillowcases or Hester Prynne's famous scarlet letter "A" — both of those objects are probably embroidered. To embroider refers to a type of ornamentation or needlework, but another usage of the word embroider means to embellish the truth. For example, if a fisherman sitting on the dock tells you about the 38-inch striped bass he almost caught this morning, he may have found a way to embroider the truth.
Vocabulary lists containing embroider
Inside Out & Back Again
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"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney
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Brown Girl Dreaming
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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:
The admiration Ms. Footer has for Bradley is obvious, but it sometimes leads her to embroider the little that is known of his inner life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
Season 2 feels like much more of an ensemble affair as showrunner Tony Gilroy expands the show’s focus beyond one character’s moral development to more thoroughly embroider others that are just as worthwhile.
From Salon ● Apr. 22, 2025
The family leader in Manson’s absence, she helped embroider an elaborate ceremonial vest for him, weaving in her own red locks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2024
He taught himself to sew and embroider, sculpt with thermoplastics, and even tan leather.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 17, 2023
They’re like movies I edit and embroider and watch over and over again, regularly recasting the villains and updating the minor details.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
O’Connor’s monologue focused on two things those unfamiliar with his acting should know about him: that he has a reputation as a “soft boy,” someone who embroiders, scrapbooks and gardens like an “average 65-year-old woman.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2025
At the same workshop, Getu Derza, 48, carefully embroiders colourful silk threads into intricate patterns.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2025
The supplier embroiders school logos in-house on a range of products including jumpers, sweatshirts, polo shirts and school bags.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2023
Deep in Verdi’s opera “Don Carlo,” an impassioned solo cello line embroiders a bass aria with a vein of feeling.
From New York Times ● Nov. 29, 2022
Gisa embroiders at the table, making something beautiful and exquisite and entirely beyond my comprehension.
From "Red Queen" by Victoria Aveyard
We were dressed in our rancho libertarian best: jeans, embroidered leather belts, pearl snap shirts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
Probably designed and made soon after 1066 at Canterbury, it is not a true tapestry, but an embroidered narrative, and the oldest and most complete one we have.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
The insider further revealed that the lovers spent 20 minutes exchanging their handwritten vows, and that they handed out custom handkerchiefs, embroidered with a “TT” and lyrics from Swift’s 2014 song “Blank Space.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 7, 2026
At the foot of the coffin was an engraving of a pair of wings that were embroidered on one of her stage jackets.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
There was Opal, Queen Opal, wearing a golden crown on her head and a gown embroidered with gold thread.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
Artisans at the London fashion house Safiyaa spent 150 hours embroidering Anderson’s bespoke silk reception outfit.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
Kit men spent the 24 hours before Argentina faced England embroidering those shirts with numbers and the national crest.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
The mother-of-two said she works all day sewing clothes and embroidering but she can't afford baby formula for her youngest.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
Gardea and Guevara, who found the club on Instagram and have attended once before, are working on embroidering a decorative patch with the Radical Sewing Club logo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2024
She was embroidering a border of lotus flowers, a proper border for a wedding sari, because the lotus pod’s many seeds are scattered to the wind, suggesting wealth and plenty.
From "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
