embroil

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ɪmˈbrɔɪl/ UK /ɪmˈbrɔɪl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to involve someone deeply in conflict or difficulty

He was embroiled in a bitter dispute over the inheritance.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to involve someone deeply... entangle involve implicate enmesh ensnare mire

Opposites

disentangle extricate disengage

Word family

Forms embroiled

Derived forms embroilmentembroiled

Related forms broil

Etymology

From French embrouiller ('to entangle, confuse'), from en- ('in') + brouiller ('to mix, mingle, confuse'), of uncertain ultimate origin.

embrouiller French

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# embroil

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ɪmˈbrɔɪl/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪmˈbrɔɪl/

## Meanings
1. to involve someone deeply in conflict or difficulty

## Examples
- He was embroiled in a bitter dispute over the inheritance.

## Synonyms
- entangle
- involve
- implicate
- enmesh
- ensnare
- mire

## Antonyms
- disentangle
- extricate
- disengage

## Derived Forms
- embroilment
- embroiled

## Related Forms
- broil

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: embrouiller

## Etymology
From French embrouiller ('to entangle, confuse'), from en- ('in') + brouiller ('to mix, mingle, confuse'), of uncertain ultimate origin.

## AI Etymology
Embroil comes from French embrouiller ('to entangle, confuse'), from en- ('in') + brouiller ('to mix, mingle, confuse'), of uncertain ultimate origin. Morphologically, the form is compositional: en- marks part of the visible structure, while the remaining element supplies the lexical base. In present use, it is used as a verb meaning "to involve someone deeply in conflict or difficulty", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes derivatives such as embroilment and embroiled and related forms such as broil, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. The named historical forms include French embrouiller, keeping the history tied to concrete forms rather than a loose resemblance. Its semantic neighborhood is marked by entangle, involve, implicate, and enmesh on one side and contrasts such as disentangle, extricate, and disengage on the other, locating the modern specialization without adding a new origin story.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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