- to do decorative needlework (upon)
- to add fictitious or fanciful detail to (a story)
- to add exaggerated or improbable details to (an account of an event, etc)
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
em•broi•der /ɛmˈbrɔɪdɚ/USA pronunciation
v.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Clothing to decorate with embroidery:[~ + object]She embroidered her dress with flowers.
- Clothing to form by or with embroidery:[~ + object]She embroidered flowers on her dress.
- Clothing to do embroidery:[no object]She embroiders as a way of relaxing.
- to add extra or imaginary details;
embellish with ornate language:[~ + object]She embroidered her story to hold her listeners' interest.
em•broi•der
(em broi′dər),USA pronunciation v.t.
v.i.
em•broi′der•er, n.
- Clothingto decorate with ornamental needlework.
- Clothingto produce or form in needlework.
- to adorn or embellish rhetorically, esp. with ornate language or fictitious details:He embroidered the account of the shipwreck to hold his listeners' interest.
v.i.
- Clothingto do embroidery.
- to add embellishments;
exaggerate (often fol. by on or upon).
- Gmc (see brad)
- Middle French embro(u)der, equivalent. to em- em-1 + Old French brosder, derivative of brosd
- 1350–1400; em-1 + broider; replacing Middle English embroderen, frequentative of embroden
- 3. elaborate, exaggerate, color, fancify.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
embroider /ɪmˈbrɔɪdə/ vb
'embroidered' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
afghan
- clock
- ephod
- kincob
- monogram
- surcoat
- taboret
- tambour
- bargello
- barong tagalog
- Bayeux tapestry
- bis
- breastplate
- Breton lace
- coat of arms
- crow's-foot
- embroider
- embroidery
- fly-up
- fraise
- frieze
- infula
- Kashmir rug
- kiswah
- lappet weaving
- macramé
- muslin
- orphrey
- Panathenaea
- parokheth
- polka dot
- trapunto
- waistcoat
- wings
- sakkos
- sampler
- subcinctorium