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Synonyms

involve

American

[in-volv] / ɪnˈvɒlv /

verb (used with object)

to include as a necessary circumstance, condition, or consequence; imply; entail.

This job involves long hours and hard work.

Synonyms:

demand, require, necessitate
to engage or employ.
to affect, as something within the scope of operation.
to include, contain, or comprehend within itself or its scope.
to bring into an intricate or complicated form or condition.
to bring into difficulties (usually followed bywith ).

The investigation discovered a plot to involve one nation in a war with another.
to cause to be troublesomely associated or concerned, as in something embarrassing or unfavorable.

Don't involve me in your quarrel!

Antonyms:

extricate
to combine inextricably (usually followed bywith ).
to implicate, as in guilt or crime, or in any matter or affair.
to engage the interests or emotions or commitment of.

The professor involved many students in the disarmament movement.
Her husband became involved with another woman.
to preoccupy or absorb fully (usually used passively or reflexively).

You are much too involved with the problem to see it clearly.
to envelop or enfold, as if with a wrapping.
to swallow up, engulf, or overwhelm.
1. Archaic. to roll, surround, or shroud, as in a wrapping.
2. to roll up on itself; wind spirally; coil; wreathe.

involve British

/ ɪnˈvɒlv /

verb

to include or contain as a necessary part

the task involves hard work
to have an effect on; spread to

the investigation involved many innocent people
(often passive; usually foll by in or with) to concern or associate significantly

many people were involved in the crime
(often passive) to make complicated; tangle

the situation was further involved by her disappearance
rare to wrap or surround
obsolete maths to raise to a specified power

"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

involve Idioms

see get involved with.

Synonym Usage

Involve, entangle, implicate imply getting a person connected or bound up with something from which it is difficult to be freed. To involve is to bring more or less deeply into something, especially of a complicated, embarrassing, or troublesome nature: I'd rather not to involve someone else in my debt. To entangle (usually passive or reflexive) is to involve so deeply in a tangle as to confuse and make helpless: The candidate tended to entangle himself in a mass of contradictory statements. To implicate is to connect a person with something discreditable or wrong: She was implicated in a plot to assassinate the governor.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of involve

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English involven, from Latin involvere “to roll in or up,” equivalent to in- in- ² + volvere “to roll”; see revolve

Explanation

To involve means to connect. When you get involved in the Spanish Club, you attend meetings and events. If doing math well is involved in understanding advanced chemistry, that means it's a necessary part of it. When someone is very involved, it means they are engaged or connected to a lot of activities. When someone is self-involved, all they connect with is him or herself. If getting ice cream involves walking a mile to the ice cream shop, the exercise offsets the indulgence. When no exercise is involved, it's less healthy.

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Vocabulary lists containing involve

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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:

involve involves involved involving

This means the signals it delivers can be adjusted to suit a patient's needs, potentially giving healthcare providers greater flexibility in managing conditions that involve abnormal or unwanted nerve activity.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

"Unsolved cases involve real victims, grieving families and investigators working to secure answers," the statement added.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

“Unsolved cases involve real victims, grieving families and investigators working to secure answers,” the department said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

Plenty of Killers songs involve people making bad decisions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

SABIO, SHALE: If this doesn’t work, we should involve the GSC.

From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly

This involves preparing the atomic nuclei so that their spins are aligned before fusion occurs, which can increase the fusion reaction rate.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026

Like thalassemia, the disease also involves red blood cells and is usually a lifelong condition, affecting patients' joints and leaving them feeling weak and tired.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

A “bond-tent strategy” involves gradually exposing your portfolio’s allocation to bonds in the years leading up to retirement, keeping a higher bond allocation early after retiring and gradually lowering that exposure later.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026

Yet they always resurface, often with a vengeance, never more so than in a climactic swerve that sends Misty to Dubai and involves a very literal reminder of “the bag.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

This can take a while and involves chemicals so you may want to have a book hand.

From "The First Rule of Punk" by Celia C. Pérez

Together, these discoveries provide a more detailed picture of how polyethylene may interfere with the liver's normal functions, including the mechanisms involved in protecting and repairing damaged tissue.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

The team also experimented with a simpler approach that involved burning birch bark near a solid surface, such as a stone.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

The amount of AI-generated content is increasing so quickly that we may soon struggle to distinguish what has or hasn't involved AI.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

She said more than 80 workers were involved in ongoing search and rescue operations which are expected to continue throughout the day.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

There were several steps involved, the most crucial being to heat the final compound to exactly the right temperature.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

But residents on Okinawa, where any crimes involving US forces have long inflamed criticism of the troops' presence, told AFP of their frustration and anger in the wake of another alleged incident.

From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026

Even the busiest AI executives are personally involving themselves in negotiations over computing power.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

A separate 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis examined 26 randomized trials involving vitamin D2.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026

Saints were expelled from the Championship play-offs in May after admitting spying on training sessions involving Oxford United, Ipswich Town and Middlesbrough before the play-off semi-final.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

While Susan B. Anthony’s case never made it to the US Supreme Court, another case involving female suffrage and the Fourteenth Amendment did.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023