enmesh

[en-mesh]

See more synonyms for enmesh on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to catch, as in a net; entangle: He was enmeshed by financial difficulties.

Also immesh, inmesh.

Origin of enmesh

First recorded in 1595–1605; en-¹ + mesh

Related formsen·mesh·ment, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for enmeshed

entangle, embroil, ensnare, entrap, implicate, snare, hook, incriminate, trammel, snarl, trap, catch, net, tangle

Examples from the Web for enmeshed

Contemporary Examples of enmeshed

She explored the notions of purity and virginity and how they are enmeshed with contracts, property and individual rights.
The Power of the Wedding Dress
Robin Givhan
October 3, 2011
He's enmeshed in a scheme that could send him to jail and cost him the love of Lenka.
Here on Earth, The Forgotten Founding Father, and Other Reviews
The Daily Beast
April 30, 2011
The 42nd president was enmeshed in two other State of the Union dramas.
State of the Union Sand Traps
Howard Kurtz
January 24, 2011
But learning itself is kick-started when enmeshed and inseparable from what a child inherently loves.
Why Dumb Toys Make Kids Smarter
Po Bronson
October 1, 2009
Because they've been on every side they get enmeshed with the guy who ended up on the wrong side.
My Conversation with John Updike
Barbara Probst Solomon
January 29, 2009

Historical Examples of enmeshed

Then, after the editor is under obligations, favors are asked and the editor is enmeshed.
Commercialism and Journalism
Hamilton Holt
He cast the garment so that it enmeshed the sword when next it was advanced.
St. Martin's Summer
Rafael Sabatini
Detective Crowley was enmeshed in a mystery which he could not solve just then.
Joan of Arc of the North Woods
Holman Day
But the more she tossed the tighter she enmeshed herself in the web.
The Adventures of Maya the Bee
Waldemar Bonsels
The memory of her beauty was like a net which enmeshed his thoughts when he tried to escape it.
Virginia
Ellen Glasgow

British Dictionary definitions for enmeshed

enmesh

inmesh immesh

verb

(tr) to catch or involve in or as if in a net or snare; entangle

Derived Formsenmeshment, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for enmeshed

enmesh

c.1600, from en- (1) + mesh (v.). Related: Enmeshed; enmeshing.