embroil
/əmˈbɹɔɪl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.72 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To bring (something) into a state of confusion or uproar; to complicate, to confuse, to jumble.
Transitive verb
verb
To cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "Rumor next and Chance, / And Tumult and Confuſion all imbroild, / And Diſcord with a thouſand various mouths."
- "Your Enemies had ſo embroyl'd the management of your Office, that they look'd on your Advancement as the Inſtrument of your Ruine."
- "[It is ill-governed speech] chiefly which perverteth justice, which soweth dissensions, which raiseth all bad passions and animosities, which embroileth the world in seditions and factions, by which men wrong and abuse, deceive and seduce, defame and disgrace one another, […]"
- "There are in Rome Tvvo Sets of Antiquities, the Chriſtian and the Heathen. The former, tho' of a freſher Date, are ſo embroil'd vvith Fable and Legend, that one receives but little Satisfaction from ſearching into 'em."
- "Novv all at once tremendous ſcenes unfold; / Thunder'd the deeps, the ſmoking billovvs roll'd! / Tumultuous vvaves embroil'd the belovving flood, / All trembling, deafen'd, and aghaſt vve ſtood!"
- "Then vvould vve try to ſcan the moral VVorld, / VVhich, tho' to us it ſeems embroil'd, moves on / In higher order; fitted, and impell'd, / By VVisdom's fineſt hand, and iſſuing all / In general Good."
Etymology
PIE word *h₁én The verb is borrowed from French embrouiller (“to entangle”), from em- (a variant of en- (prefix meaning ‘in; into’)) + brouiller (“to confuse, mix up”) (ultimately from Vulgar Latin *brodiculāre, from *brodicāre, from Late Latin brodium (“broth, stew; mixture”), from Frankish *broþ (“broth”), from Proto-Germanic *bruþą (“stock, broth”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- (“to boil; to brew”)). The noun is derived from the verb. Cognates * Italian imbrogliare * Spanish embrollar
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
- Root: *bʰrewh₁-, embrouiller, *brodiculāre, brodium, *broþ, *bruþą
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /əmˈbɹɔɪl/
- British English: /ɪmˈbɹɔɪl/
Usage
Inflected Forms
embroils (present, singular)
embroiling (participle, present)
embroiled (participle, past)
embroiled (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
embroiled (first person, past)
embroilest (archaic, present)
embroiled (past, second person)
embroiledst (archaic, past)
embroileth (archaic, present)
embroiled (past, singular)
Derived Forms
Phrases
re-embroil