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
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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
Grandmothers told stories of their mothers teaching them to embroider.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2023
"Our embroidery masters taped their phones to lamps and used the torch light to embroider with a thread and needle," he says.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2023
This was nothing I’d necessarily want to embroider on a pillow, but still, once the answer left my mouth, I embraced it as a perfectly acceptable teaching philosophy.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
At the same workshop, Getu Derza, 48, carefully embroiders colourful silk threads into intricate patterns.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2025
Erick Medel embroiders denim with an industrial sewing machine, making works that touch on everyday life in Los Angeles, particularly those living and working in Boyle Heights and the city’s Eastside.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2024
Los Angeles artist Diane Meyer embroiders family photos like distorted pixelations to ask questions about memory.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 24, 2023
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
Gisa embroiders at the table, making something beautiful and exquisite and entirely beyond my comprehension.
From "Red Queen" by Victoria Aveyard
But in that 1967 episode, when she was still an unknown, the only glimmer to behold was embroidered on the host’s jacket.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
After spending $40 more, I eventually walked away with two cute plushies—a fuzzy chicken leg with a penguin face and a purple tea cup with a smiley face embroidered on its side—and my dignity intact.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 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
You find him on the official state seal, and if you get nabbed speeding on the freeway, there he is, embroidered on the CHP officer’s uniform patch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Fresh grass pushed through the old, dead stubble, buds embroidered the trees.
From "Abel's Island" by William Steig
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
Although Aleys’ mother cannot read, she knows the stories of the saints and relishes embroidering them with “goriest” details to keep her children interested.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2026
An A-line grey wool collarless coat had pink peonies of varying sizes splashed over it, while a shorter white wool cape was adorned with similar detailed pink and yellow peony embroidering.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 12, 2024
To Desdemona sewing a palikari vest, embroidering it with red, white, and blue thread.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
