"imbroglio" meaning in English

See imbroglio in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ɪmˈbɹəʊljəʊ/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ɪmˈbɹoʊljoʊ/ [General-American] Audio: en-us-imbroglio.ogg [General-American] Forms: imbroglios [plural], imbrogli [plural]
Rhymes: -əʊljəʊ 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”)). Etymology templates: {{root|en|ine-pro|*bʰrewh₁-}}, {{bor|en|it|imbroglio||tangle, entanglement, muddle}} Italian imbroglio (“tangle, entanglement, muddle”), {{m|it|im-}} im-, {{m|it|in-|pos=prefix forming verbs denoting derivation}} in- (prefix forming verbs denoting derivation), {{m|it|broglio||confusion; intrigue, fraud, rigging, stuffing}} broglio (“confusion; intrigue, fraud, rigging, stuffing”), {{m|it|imbrogliare||to tangle}} imbrogliare (“to tangle”), {{der|en|fr|embrouiller||to embroil, muddle}} French embrouiller (“to embroil, muddle”), {{m|fr|em-||em-}} em- (“em-”), {{m|fr|en-||en-|pos=prefix meaning ‘caused’}} en- (“en-”, prefix meaning ‘caused’), {{m|fr|brouiller||to confuse, mix up}} brouiller (“to confuse, mix up”) Head templates: {{en-noun|s|imbrogli}} imbroglio (plural imbroglios or imbrogli)
  1. A complicated situation; an entanglement. Synonyms: snarl [noun] Related terms: embroil Translations (complicated situation, entanglement): бъркотия (bǎrkotija) [feminine] (Bulgarian), безредие (bezredie) [neuter] (Bulgarian), kluwen (Dutch), embrouille [feminine] (French), sac de nœuds [familiar, masculine] (French), εμπλοκή (emplokí) [feminine] (Greek), bonyodalom (Hungarian), cíor thuathail [feminine] (Irish), gírle guairle [masculine] (Irish), imbroglio [masculine] (Italian), 縺れ (motsure) (alt: もつれ) (Japanese), imbróglio [masculine] (Portuguese), embrollo [masculine] (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-imbroglio-en-noun-PkFQxbnL Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Japanese terms with redundant script codes

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for imbroglio meaning in English (7.2kB)

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  "etymology_templates": [
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      "expansion": "French embrouiller (“to embroil, muddle”)",
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      },
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      "name": "m"
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  "etymology_text": "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”)).",
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        "plural"
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          "ref": "1816, Thomas Gray, “A Long Story”, in John Mitford, editor, The Works of Thomas Gray; Vol. I Containing the Poems, with Critical Notes; a Life of the Author; and an Essay on His Poetry; by the Rev. John Mitford, volume I, London: Printed for J. Mawman, 39, Ludgate-Street, by S. Hamilton, Weybridge, Surrey, →OCLC, page 133, lines 65–68",
          "text": "Into the drawers and china pry, / Papers and books, a huge imbroglio! / Under a tea-cup he might lie, / Or creased, like dogs-ears, in a folio.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010 July, Erica Jong, “My Italy”, in Barrie Kerper, editor, Tuscany and Umbria: The Collected Traveler (An Inspired Companion Guide), New York, N.Y.: Vintage Departures, Vintage Books",
          "text": "Your trip here will never quite go as planned. […] There may be strikes, mixed-up reservations, maddening imbrogli of all sorts. But they will be charming imbrogli because the Italian people are charming, down to the whimsical tone of their language.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Frances Whiting, chapter 19, in Walking on Trampolines, Sydney, N.S.W.: Pan Macmillan Australia; trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Gallery Books, February 2015 page 207",
          "text": "I could have phoned you with all this, Tallulah, but knowing you as I have over the years, when you and I have both been a party to some of Duncan's little imbroglios, I thought I should talk to you in person."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Judith Bendheim Guedalia, “Stop and Smell the Flowers”, in A Neuropsychologist’s Journal: Interventions and “Judi-isms”, Jerusalem, New York, N.Y.: Urim Publications, page 240",
          "text": "He [Edward Michael Adler] was inducted into the imbroglio of the Vietnam War, which so many of his age group and middle class Orthodox Jewish upbringing easily avoided by staying in university or going into the clergy. He didn't.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Denis MacShane, “A Centrifugal Europe”, in Brexit: How Britain Will Leave Europe, London: I.B. Tauris, page 21",
          "text": "[David] Cameron's decision to hold a referendum alters the chemistry of politics. The casual way he offered a simple Yes–No referendum to Scotland in 2011 has led to a quasi-insoluble imbroglio over the future of the British Constitution.",
          "type": "quotation"
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      "id": "en-imbroglio-en-noun-PkFQxbnL",
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        {
          "word": "embroil"
        }
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          "tags": [
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          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "bǎrkotija",
          "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "бъркотия"
        },
        {
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "bezredie",
          "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
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          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
          "word": "kluwen"
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        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "embrouille"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
          "tags": [
            "familiar",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "sac de nœuds"
        },
        {
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "emplokí",
          "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "εμπλοκή"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
          "word": "bonyodalom"
        },
        {
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
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        },
        {
          "code": "ga",
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          "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
          "tags": [
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          ],
          "word": "gírle guairle"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "imbroglio"
        },
        {
          "alt": "もつれ",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "motsure",
          "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
          "word": "縺れ"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "imbróglio"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "embrollo"
        }
      ]
    }
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      "tags": [
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      "ipa": "/ɪmˈbɹoʊljoʊ/",
      "tags": [
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      "rhymes": "-əʊljəʊ"
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      "tags": [
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{
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        "5": "to embroil, muddle"
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        "4": "to confuse, mix up"
      },
      "expansion": "brouiller (“to confuse, mix up”)",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "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”)).",
  "forms": [
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      "form": "imbroglios",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
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      "form": "imbrogli",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
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      "args": {
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      "expansion": "imbroglio (plural imbroglios or imbrogli)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
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  "hyphenation": [
    "im‧bro‧glio"
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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      "word": "embroil"
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        "English terms borrowed from Italian",
        "English terms derived from French",
        "English terms derived from Italian",
        "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
        "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰrewh₁-",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Japanese terms with redundant script codes",
        "Rhymes:English/əʊljəʊ",
        "Rhymes:English/əʊljəʊ/3 syllables"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1816, Thomas Gray, “A Long Story”, in John Mitford, editor, The Works of Thomas Gray; Vol. I Containing the Poems, with Critical Notes; a Life of the Author; and an Essay on His Poetry; by the Rev. John Mitford, volume I, London: Printed for J. Mawman, 39, Ludgate-Street, by S. Hamilton, Weybridge, Surrey, →OCLC, page 133, lines 65–68",
          "text": "Into the drawers and china pry, / Papers and books, a huge imbroglio! / Under a tea-cup he might lie, / Or creased, like dogs-ears, in a folio.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010 July, Erica Jong, “My Italy”, in Barrie Kerper, editor, Tuscany and Umbria: The Collected Traveler (An Inspired Companion Guide), New York, N.Y.: Vintage Departures, Vintage Books",
          "text": "Your trip here will never quite go as planned. […] There may be strikes, mixed-up reservations, maddening imbrogli of all sorts. But they will be charming imbrogli because the Italian people are charming, down to the whimsical tone of their language.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Frances Whiting, chapter 19, in Walking on Trampolines, Sydney, N.S.W.: Pan Macmillan Australia; trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Gallery Books, February 2015 page 207",
          "text": "I could have phoned you with all this, Tallulah, but knowing you as I have over the years, when you and I have both been a party to some of Duncan's little imbroglios, I thought I should talk to you in person."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Judith Bendheim Guedalia, “Stop and Smell the Flowers”, in A Neuropsychologist’s Journal: Interventions and “Judi-isms”, Jerusalem, New York, N.Y.: Urim Publications, page 240",
          "text": "He [Edward Michael Adler] was inducted into the imbroglio of the Vietnam War, which so many of his age group and middle class Orthodox Jewish upbringing easily avoided by staying in university or going into the clergy. He didn't.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Denis MacShane, “A Centrifugal Europe”, in Brexit: How Britain Will Leave Europe, London: I.B. Tauris, page 21",
          "text": "[David] Cameron's decision to hold a referendum alters the chemistry of politics. The casual way he offered a simple Yes–No referendum to Scotland in 2011 has led to a quasi-insoluble imbroglio over the future of the British Constitution.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A complicated situation; an entanglement."
      ],
      "links": [
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          "complicated",
          "complicated"
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        [
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          "situation"
        ],
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          "entanglement"
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      "tags": [
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      "ipa": "/ɪmˈbɹoʊljoʊ/",
      "tags": [
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    {
      "rhymes": "-əʊljəʊ"
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  ],
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      "tags": [
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "bǎrkotija",
      "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "бъркотия"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "bezredie",
      "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "безредие"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
      "word": "kluwen"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "embrouille"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
      "tags": [
        "familiar",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "sac de nœuds"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "emplokí",
      "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "εμπλοκή"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
      "word": "bonyodalom"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "cíor thuathail"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "gírle guairle"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "imbroglio"
    },
    {
      "alt": "もつれ",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "motsure",
      "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
      "word": "縺れ"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "imbróglio"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "complicated situation, entanglement",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "embrollo"
    }
  ],
  "word": "imbroglio"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.