embroider
Americanverb (used with object)
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to decorate with ornamental needlework.
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to produce or form in needlework.
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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)
-
to do embroidery.
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to add embellishments; exaggerate (often followed by on orupon ).
verb
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to do decorative needlework (upon)
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to add fictitious or fanciful detail to (a story)
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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
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embroiderssimple
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have embroideredperfect
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has embroideredperfect
-
am embroideringprogressive
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are embroideringprogressive
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is embroideringprogressive
-
have been embroideringperfect progressive
-
has been embroideringperfect progressive
Past
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embroideredsimple
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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
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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:
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
According to legend, Tyre is the place where purple pigment was first created - the dye crushed out of snail shells to embroider royal robes.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2024
Grandmothers told stories of their mothers teaching them to embroider.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2023
The villagers used to climb up to the mountain hut regularly, requesting that Amah embroider peonies or five-colored clouds onto silks for weddings and birthdays.
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
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, more pertinently, Hegseth’s fear of the phrase “diversity is our strength,” an idiom so blandly inoffensive you can probably find it embroidered on a hand towel at T.J.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
It also included headlines from articles regarding the Naupan artisans who were allegedly underpaid by Adidas and social-impact brand Someone Somewhere, during its work on the latest embroidered Mexican soccer kit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
Deepak Chopra, who officiated, wore a jacket embroidered with an image of the night sky the day the couple met.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
At the time, a similar cap -- white, with gold embroidered letters -- was for sale on The Trump Organization website for $55.
From Barron's ● Apr. 21, 2026
The bodice was a deep-green silk embroidered with gold thread, and fitted snugly around her waist.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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’s 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
Chatinas learn to cross-stitch as young girls because embroidering birds and flowers has a spiritual meaning.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 25, 2023
Young as she was, Mr. Das entrusted her with embroidering threads of real gold.
From "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan
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.
