imbroglio

Meaning

A complicated situation; an entanglement.

Synonyms

embroilment

entanglement

involvement

crisis

difficulty

intricacy

involution

jam

mess

mystification

pass

perplexity

pickle

snarl

tamale

🫔

tangle

complexity

how-d’ye-do

complication

confusion

Translations

imbroglio

pasticcio

🥧

imbróglio

situazione confusa

verwarring

Maismehltasche

ανακατωσούρα

εμπλοκή

περιπλοκή

bourbier

embrouille

enchevêtrement

sac de nœuds

verwikkeling

lío

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɪmˈbɹəʊljəʊ/

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian imbroglio (“tangle, entanglement, muddle”) (im-, alternative form of in- (prefix forming verbs denoting derivation) + broglio (“confusion; intrigue, fraud, rigging, stuffing”); see also imbrogliare (“to tangle”)), cognate with and probably from an earlier form of French embrouiller (“to embroil, muddle”) (em- (“em-”), a form of en- (“en-”, prefix meaning ‘caused’) + brouiller (“to confuse, mix up”)).