imbue
Americanverb (used with object)
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imbues,
present (3rd person singular)
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imbued,
past participle, past
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imbuing
present participle
verb
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to instil or inspire (with ideals, principles, etc)
his sermons were imbued with the spirit of the Reformation
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rare to soak, esp with moisture, dye, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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imbuesimple
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imbuessimple
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have imbuedperfect
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has imbuedperfect
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am imbuingprogressive
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are imbuingprogressive
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is imbuingprogressive
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have been imbuingperfect progressive
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has been imbuingperfect progressive
Past
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imbuedsimple
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had imbuedperfect
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was imbuingprogressive
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were imbuingprogressive
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had been imbuingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of imbue
First recorded in 1545–55, imbue is from the Latin word imbuere “to wet, drench”
Explanation
To imbue is to fill up with or become "soaked" in an idea or emotion, as a sponge takes in water. One visit to a sick relative in a hospital might be enough to imbue a child with a lifelong ambition to become a doctor. You can use imbue in a similar way as "saturate," or "soak through," to describe a filling or absorbing. A "hue" is a color, and it rhymes with imbue. When you're imbued with something, you are, in a way, colored by it. If you imbue a dish sponge with oily orange water from a spaghetti bowl, the color and the oil soak in. To fill people with qualities or emotions is, for example, to imbue them with strength or optimism.
Vocabulary lists containing imbue
Grade 11, List 5
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Death of a Salesman
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The Scarlet Letter
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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:
Unsettling to many, beloved by more, he refused to explain his work, allowing and challenging his audience to parse through it and imbue their own meanings and discoveries.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
While eager to imbue him with reverential status, the Party is simultaneously wary that almost any discussion of Mao's legacy could rake up uncomfortable memories.
From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2026
But Roslyn Ruff, a talented actor who speaks the verse with commendable clarity, fails to imbue the character with the necessary domineering imperiousness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026
"Artificial intelligence lacks feelings and memories; in short, it has no nafas... It can't imbue it into food."
From Barron's ● Nov. 30, 2025
“No harm will come to it. I may be suffering from brand-fly poison, but I can still imbue a charm or two.”
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
Whereas, with Tommy, he has these flashbacks to the memories, which I think is because Billy brings back Tommy, so he imbues him with the memories.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2026
Great TV imbues its fiction with a soul, coaxing us to view fully crafted characters as beings of flesh and blood, or constructed unscripted scenarios as truth.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026
MacKay imbues this inarticulate everyman with a guarded vulnerability.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
Beacon imbues its portfolio companies with a central AI-enabled operating system to help them deeply analyze their businesses; the goal is to find tasks to automate, raise productivity and grow profit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
That mysterious vitality which still imbues their remains, and which seems to enchant even the fragments of their marbles, is the mesmeric vitality of fresh, original conception.
From Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands, Volume 2 by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Some offices or Cabinet posts are just imbued with more power than others.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026
Now, with her latest show Youth, Horgan puts the spotlight on 50-something women, imbued with her trademark tightly balanced mix of hilarity and pathos.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
They’ve been imbued with family legend and the essential importance of never shedding the immigrant’s mentality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
"Human conversations are imbued with background assumptions that give meaning and relevance to the words being used," Denning explains.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
The congregation was growing angry because Roberto had imbued them with outrage.
From "Bodega Dreams" by Ernesto Quinonez
Halle Berry feels like a big sister, always imbuing a bit of sagacity but distinct youthfulness into every film she does.
From Salon ● May 10, 2026
For one thing, the display is shaped like a conventional mirror, imbuing it with the comfort of the familiar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026
But rather than depict a childhood of adversity, her paintings empower the kids within them to claim their own space, imbuing her memories with strength and light.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2026
“Ray did an amazing job of imbuing confidence. But none of us were under any illusions about the fact that it was a drop in the ocean compared to the real thing.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2025
Rowan puts his hands on either side of her face and squeezes, imbuing her with an otherworldly gold light.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
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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.
