embroil

Meaning

Verb

1. To bring (something) into a state of confusion or uproar; to complicate, to confuse, to jumble.
2. To cause (someone) to be drawn into or involved in a difficult situation or state of contention.

Noun

1. (obsolete) A state of confusion or uproar; a commotion, a disturbance; also, a quarrel.
2. (obsolete) A state of anxiety or disturbance of the mind.

Synonyms

involve

entangle

tangle

enmesh

engage

sweep

sweep up

drag in

bedevil

drag

confuse

mat

mess

mess up

mix up

muck up

mud

muss

mystify

perplex

pleach

puddle

puzzle

roil

shake up

snarl

snarl up

tangle up

touch

twist

web

clutter up

dinge

agitate

louse up

bewilder

complicate

concern

dishevel

disorganise

disrupt

embrangle

implicate

intrude

litter

Hyphenated as

em‧broil

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɪmˈbɹɔɪl/

Etymology

Cognate with Italian: imbrogliare

Cognate with Spanish: embrollar

In summary

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