embroider
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to decorate with ornamental needlework.
-
to produce or form in needlework.
-
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.
-
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)
-
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
-
embroiderssimple
-
have embroideredperfect
-
has embroideredperfect
-
am embroideringprogressive
-
are embroideringprogressive
-
is embroideringprogressive
-
have been embroideringperfect progressive
-
has been embroideringperfect progressive
Past
-
embroideredsimple
-
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
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:
When those employees left, they had to learn how to screen-print and embroider themselves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 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
The family leader in Manson’s absence, she helped embroider an elaborate ceremonial vest for him, weaving in her own red locks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2024
I was able to embroider many other memories, though.
From "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan
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
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
Deep in Verdi’s opera “Don Carlo,” an impassioned solo cello line embroiders a bass aria with a vein of feeling.
From New York Times ● Nov. 29, 2022
Gisa embroiders at the table, making something beautiful and exquisite and entirely beyond my comprehension.
From "Red Queen" by Victoria Aveyard
The artefact, almost 1,000 years old, is a 70m-long storyboard of embroidered pictures showing an epic account of the Norman conquest and the Battle of Hastings of 1066.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Municipal Softball League: The Feeneys’ jerseys featured black patches embroidered with “JBK” for Jamie Bailey Krug, the first of the original founders to make it back to home base in the sky.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 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
I squeezed into a seat next to an aging veteran wearing a uniform and a cap embroidered with Dearborn.
From Slate ● Apr. 29, 2026
“There’s a chemical formula embroidered on my baby blanket.”
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
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
My life today consists of watching television, reading, embroidering and drawing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2023
Materson has since gotten clean and left prison, and he has continued embroidering.
From New York Times ● Mar. 2, 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.
