embroil

em·broil
E1M3B3R1O1I1L1
UK/ɪmˈbɹɔɪl/UK/ɛm-/US/əmˈbɹɔɪl/

verb

To bring (something) into a state of confusion or uproar; to complicate, to confuse, to jumble.

“Avoid him. He will embroil you in his fights.”

Similar
tanglesweepsweep updragdrag in
OriginFrench embrouiller ← Vulgar Latin *brodiculāre ← Late Latin brodium →
RareScrabble 11
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Meanings

embroil1

verbembroil (third-person singular simple present embroils, present participle embroiling, simple past and past participle embroiled)

present singular third person embroils · participle present embroiling · participle past embroiled · past embroiled · first person past singular embroiled · archaic present second person singular embroilest · past second person singular embroiled · archaic past second person singular embroiledst · present singular third person embroils · archaic present singular third person embroileth · past singular third person embroiled · past plural embroiled · past subjunctive embroiled · participle present embroiling · participle past embroiled

  1. transitiveTo bring (something) into a state of confusion or uproar; to complicate, to confuse, to jumble.

    Rumor next and Chance, / And Tumult and Confuſion all imbroild, / And Diſcord with a thouſand various mouths.

    1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 965–967
    5 more examples

    Your Enemies had ſo embroyl'd the management of your Office, that they look'd on your Advancement as the Inſtrument of your Ruine.

    1677 (first performance), John Dryden, “To the Right Honourable Thomas Earl of Danby, Viscount Latimer, and Baron Osborne of Kiveton in Yorkshire, Lord High Treasurer of England, One of His Majesties Most Honourable Privy-Council, and Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, &c.”, in All for Love: Or, The World Well Lost. A Tragedy, […], [London]: […] Tho[mas] Newcomb, for Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC, Act I

    [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, […]

    a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “Sermon XIII. Not to Offend in Word an Evidence of a High Pitch of Virtue.”, in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow. […], volume I, London: A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […], published 1830, →OCLC, page 332

    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.

    1705, J[oseph] Addison, “Rome”, in Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 301

    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!

    1725, Homer, “Book XII”, in [William Broome], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume III, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC, page 157, lines 240–243

    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.

    a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Winter”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC, page 185, lines 583–587
  2. transitiveTo cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention.

    Avoid him. He will embroil you in his fights.

    5 more examples

    Then vvhen ſhe found her Venom ſpread ſo far, / The Royal Houſe embroil'd in Civil VVar: / Rais'd on her dusky VVings ſhe cleaves the Skies, / And ſeeks the Palace vvhere young Turnus lies.

    1697, Virgil, “The Seventh Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 417, lines 567–570

    VVhat, and imbroil myſelf vvith a Man of Mr. B’s Povver and Fortune! No, not I, I’ll aſſure you!

    1741, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXXI”, in Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded. […], 3rd edition, volume I, London: […] C[harles] Rivington, […]; and J. Osborn, […], →OCLC, page 175

    The effects of dance's narrativization continue to reverberate throughout the contemporary world of dance where the opposition between "abstract" and "representational" movement vocabularies embroils choreographers and critics in endless dilemmas concerning dance's significance.

    1996, Susan Leigh Foster, “Pygmalion’s No-body and the Body of Dance”, in Elin Diamond, editor, Performance and Cultural Politics, Abingdon, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, part III (Moving/Seeing: Bodies and Technologies), page 132

    Whether it's palatable for the vice-chairman of Hillary [Clinton]'s presidential campaign to be embroiled in allegations of conflicts of interest, obtaining patronage jobs, or misrepresenting time worked remains to be seen.

    2016 January 31, William D[avid] Cohan, “Is Huma Abedin Hillary Clinton's Secret Weapon or Her Next Big Problem?”, in Graydon Carter, editor, Vanity Fair, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 Mar 2023

    [Sean] Connery could by now command massive fees and gained a reputation as a ruthless contract negotiator. He hated the idea of being manipulated by the film industry and was regularly embroiled in lawsuits.

    2020 November 1, Alan Young, “Sean Connery obituary: From delivering milk in Fountainbridge to the definitive James Bond”, in The Scotsman, Edinburgh: The Scotsman Publications, JPIMedia Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 Sep 2023
nounembroil (plural embroils)

plural embroils

  1. obsoletetransitiveA state of confusion or uproar; a commotion, a disturbance; also, a quarrel.
  2. obsoletetransitiveA state of anxiety or disturbance of the mind.

embroil2

verbembroil (third-person singular simple present embroils, present participle embroiling, simple past and past participle embroiled)

present singular third person embroils · participle present embroiling · participle past embroiled · past embroiled

  1. obsoleteraretransitiveTo set (something) on fire; to burn (something).
    1 more example

    Indeed if vve vvill be building our Babels, and thus aſſault Omnipotence, 'tis but juſt vve ſhould have our language confounded, and that that knovvledge for vvhich vve boldly attempt to rifle Gods cabinet, ſhould like the Coal from the Altar, ſerve only to embroil and conſume the ſacrilegious invaders.

    1667, attributed to Richard Allestree, “A Survey of the Causes of Disputes; Secondly, Curiosity”, in The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety. […], London: […] R. Norton for T. Garthwait, […], →OCLC, page 340

Synonyms & antonyms

verbforce into some kind of situation, condition, or course of action

Similar
tanglesweepsweep updragdrag in
Broader
involve
Also see
bafflebaffoundbedevilbefuddlebewildercomplicateconfoundconfusedisconcertdragdrag inentangleflustermix upmuddyperturbpuzzleravelsweepsweep uptangle

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

embroil · verb, noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰrewh₁-“to boil; to brew”
  2. Proto-Germanic*bruþą“stock, broth”
  3. Frankish*broþ“broth”
  4. Late Latinbrodium“broth, stew; mixture”
  5. Vulgar Latin*brodiculāre
  6. Frenchembrouiller“to entangle”
  7. Englishembroil

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

More words from French, Vulgar Latin, Late Latin

Full word history & related roots →

embroil · verb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰerw-, *bʰrew-“to boil; to brew”
  2. Old Frenchbruler
  3. Middle Englishbroilen
  4. Englishembroil

From em- (a variant of en- (intensifying prefix)) + broil (“to expose to great heat; (obsolete) to burn”) (from Late Middle English broilen, brulen (“to burn; to scorch, singe; (cooking) to broil, grill”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Old French bruler, bruillir, brusler (“to burn”) (modern French brûler), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerw-, *bʰrew- (“to boil; to brew”)).

More words from Middle English, Old French, Proto-Indo-European

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic وَرَّطَ
  • وَرَّطَ (warraṭa)to cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
Bulgarian забърквам
  • забърквам (zabărkvam)to cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
Catalan embolicar, embrancar
  • embolicarto cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
  • embrancarto cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
  • enjoncarto cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
  • enredarto cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
Chinese Mandarin 牽連 /牵连, 使捲入 /使卷入
  • 牽連 /牵连 (qiānlián)to cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
  • 使捲入 /使卷入 (shǐ juànrù)to cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
Czech zaplést, zatáhnout
  • zapléstto cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
  • zatáhnoutto cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
Finnish sotkea
  • sotkeato cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
French embourber
  • embourberto cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
German hineinziehen, verwickeln
  • hineinziehento cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
  • verwickelnto cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
Hungarian belekever, belesodor
  • belekeverto cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
  • belesodorto cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
Italian coinvolgere
  • coinvolgereto cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
Japanese 巻き込む
  • 巻き込む (makikomu)to cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
Māori whakahīrau
  • whakahīrauto cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
Persian گرفتار کردن
  • گرفتار کردن (gereftâr kardan)to cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
Polish uwikłać się
  • uwikłać sięto cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
Portuguese envolver
  • envolverto cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
Russian впу́тывать, впу́тать
  • впу́тывать (vpútyvatʹ)to cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
  • впу́тать (vpútatʹ)to cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
  • втя́гивать (vtjágivatʹ)to cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
  • втяну́ть (vtjanútʹ)to cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
Spanish enredar, entrometer
  • enredarto cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
  • entrometerto cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention
  • involucrarto cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with embroil

oilsoilcoilfoilboilboylespoilHoylerecoiltoilbroilvoilefoylemoelroildespoilmoilnoilaboilassoilCape Broylechoildisembroildroil
All rhymes →

Anagrams

limboer
Cite this entry
APA

embroil. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/embroil

MLA

“embroil.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/embroil. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “embroil,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/embroil.

Source: embroil on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.