immerse
Americanverb (used with object)
-
immerses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
immersed,
past participle, past
-
immersing
present participle
verb
-
(often foll by in) to plunge or dip into liquid
-
to involve deeply; engross
to immerse oneself in a problem
-
to baptize by immersion
Synonym Usage
See dip 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
immersesimple
-
immersessimple
-
have immersedperfect
-
has immersedperfect
-
am immersingprogressive
-
are immersingprogressive
-
is immersingprogressive
-
have been immersingperfect progressive
-
has been immersingperfect progressive
Past
-
immersedsimple
-
had immersedperfect
-
was immersingprogressive
-
were immersingprogressive
-
had been immersingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of immerse
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin immersus “plunged, sunken into,” past participle of immergere “to dip, plunge, sink into”; see immerge
Explanation
If you immerse yourself in your work, you completely involve yourself in it, spending long hours in the office and thinking about work all the time. Immerse can also mean to submerge in a liquid. A science experiment might tell you to immerse a piece of paper completely in water. If you are a swimmer immersed in a rigorous training regimen, you might be immersing yourself in the pool several times a day.
Vocabulary lists containing immerse
ACT Vocabulary List
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
With the Fire on High
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"Speaking Up"
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:
“Instead of reading ‘Gone with the Wind,’ I was happy to immerse myself in ‘Copper Ore Deposits in Chile,’” he wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
They now plan to turn the property into a holiday let, where fellow fans can literally immerse themselves in the show.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
Sometimes it really is as simple as putting on the wig or turning on a movie to immerse yourself in an experience beyond your own.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
Fulgurous cinematic spectacle may immerse your attention, but the opera’s essence is transferred from the stage to the pit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
There was no place to be alone now, no place to collect my thoughts or immerse myself in words.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
"Rob is that kind of actor where he immerses himself so deeply you sort of don't know where he ends and the character begins," Evans said.
From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2026
Frank Dikötter is an iconoclast historian who immerses himself in the primary sources more thoroughly than any other Western scholar of 20th-century China.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
Mr. Frankel is most convincing when he avoids bold statements, however, and instead immerses himself in the skulduggery of Kansas City politics or the treacherous demimonde of Hollywood.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
Gaga has called “Mayhem” a series of gothic dreams, and in “The Art of Personal Chaos,” she immerses her audience in these fantasies.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2025
The remote-pilot setting immerses the cockpit in a red glow.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
Spanning five decades and installed chronologically, it features work from the 26 years she spent immersed in Venice’s creative community even as her practice was largely ignored.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
She then immersed herself in the Social Democratic party, whose youth league she joined when she was 16.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
Visitors to the festival have been immersed in live music sessions, interactive workshops, dance classes and pop-up pubs for the past seven days.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
We immersed ourselves in Nancy’s world, including the Safeway where she used to buy her groceries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
In early 2004 another stock market investor, Michael Burry, immersed himself for the first time in the bond market.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
She battled dyslexia and dropped out of high school and then the London College of Fashion before immersing herself in the working world of fashion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026
We will be trying to “get away from it all” by immersing ourselves in nature, including nature walks, beach vacations and camping.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
"We can levitate objects against gravity by immersing them in a sound field called a standing wave."
From Science Daily ● Mar. 22, 2026
They escorted moviegoers to other worlds, immersing them in the high-flying, dangerous adventures of Indiana Jones or Ellen Ripley.
From Salon ● Jan. 6, 2026
So, instead, I went to Times Square, from movie house to movie house, immersing myself in westerns and horror movies—the way I used to.
From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes
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.
