Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A difficult or intricate situation; an entanglement.
- n. A confused or complicated disagreement.
- n. A confused heap; a tangle.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. An intricate and perplexing state of affairs; a misunderstanding of a complicated nature, as between persons or nations; an entanglement.
- n. An intricate or complicated plot, as against a person, or of a romance or drama.
- n. In music, a passage in which the rhythms of different voice-parts are conflicting or contradictory.
Wiktionary
- n. a complicated situation; an entanglement
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. An intricate, complicated plot, as of a drama or work of fiction.
- n. A complicated and embarrassing state of things; a serious misunderstanding or disagreement, especially one that is bitter.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a very embarrassing misunderstanding
- n. an intricate and confusing interpersonal or political situation
Etymologies
- From Italian imbroglio "tangle", from imbrogliare "to tangle", cognate with and probably from an earlier form of French embrouiller "muddle, embroil", from em- "en-" + brouiller. (Wiktionary)
- Italian, from Old Italian, from imbrogliare, to tangle, confuse : in-, in (from Latin; see in-2) + brogliare, to mix, stir (probably from Old French brooiller, brouiller; see broil2). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“This free-speech imbroglio is another example of Park Service leadership with its head in the sand, waiting to get sued rather than affirmatively addressing issues before they end up in court," Ruch said.”
The Washington Post: Permit process eased for gatherings at national parks
“This free speech imbroglio is another example of Park Service leadership with its head in the sand, waiting to get sued rather than affirmatively addressing issues before they end up in court," Ruch said.”
The Washington Post: Need for permits eased at national parks
“What's been a little surprising about this Caprio imbroglio is that it took some days for the climax to arrive.”
“As crises go, the Clinton-Lewinsky imbroglio is now an absurdist, bathetic footnote to what was in fact significant about that era: the evolution of finance in a culture of deregulation and the evolution of jihadism against the United States.”
“The Williams imbroglio is teachable, but its lessons actually point in the opposite direction: America's public media system, including NPR, requires more funding, not less.”
“Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales takes to Capitol Hill to testify today, it's worth keeping in mind what this whole imbroglio is really about.”
“Talk of a new cold war and of punishing Russia for the Georgian imbroglio is short-sighted, argues Peter Sain ley Berry ....”
“That's an odd choice of the word -- "imbroglio" -- which means a confusing situation.”
“Alberto R. Gonzales takes to Capitol Hill to testify today, it’s worth keeping in mind what this whole imbroglio is really about.”
“Behind the imbroglio was an unusual structure that skirted standard procurement laws to allow for a joint decision by the governor and legislative leaders, opening the floodgates for a torrent of lobbying, campaign cash and attempted deal making, the report and former bidders said.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘imbroglio’.
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abject, abjure, abscission, abscond, abstemious, abstinence, abysmal, accretion and 787 more...
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AFET - diplomacy
broker a peace ac..., client state, deadlocked peace ..., embassy, freeze, goodwill ambassador, hinterland, interfere in dome..., intervene personally, maintain technica..., mediation, no business as usual and 670 more...
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words 1
Traduce, Ramify, precipitous, rapture, adumbrate, knell, smolder, vagary, choleric, sibylline, hypocritical, jejune and 185 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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From reading
Collected from reading
venerate, reprobate, reticent, adoration, ethereal, ephemeral, equivocal, contumacious, heinous, solicitous, agnostic, aberration and 335 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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phrontistery - i
from phrontistery.info
iamatology, iamb, ianthine, iatraliptic, iatramelia, iatrarchy, iatrochemistry, iatrogenic, iatrology, iatromathematics, iatrophobia, ibidem and 510 more...
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Situation Normal
inspired by Mistakes Were Made. Words for things going wrong in a manner particularly violent, stupid, soul-crushing, boggling, grandiose, or any combination of these qualities.
fuckup, snafu, fiasco, abortion, miscarriage, implosion, contretemps, imbroglio, brouhaha, melee, kerfuffle, mayhem and 156 more...
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Them's fightin' words
brannigan, fisticuffs, donnybrook, lambaste, fracas, fray, imbroglio, melee, squabble, quarrel, skirmish, stramash and 28 more...
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My first list
exposition, anecdote, perspicacious, polemic, imbroglio, irascible, vicissitude, venality, payola, amatory, caliginous, avuncular and 5 more...
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Portmanteau-ism
portmanteau, apophenia, apoplexy, antisyzygy, canard, augur, interstice, sang-froid, agent provocateur, aposiopesis, folderol, twaddle and 5 more...
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DAY5_01/08/2013
kowtow, powwow, junta, imbroglio, juggernaut, schadenfreude, amuck, pariah, nabob, bwana, zeitgeist, sangfroid and 6 more...
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Remember Not To Forget
Sephardic, Umwelt, amphiboly, untrammeled, sequela, pandiculation, tensegrity, syncretism, pugilism, shemagh, disquisition, perspicacity and 74 more...
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Quandary
pickle, conundrum, mare's nest, riddle, stumper, imbroglio, quandary, quagmire, dilemma, puzzle, enigma, arcanum and 4 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for imbroglio.
Casey "The three small figures disappeared into the dimly lit streets of Sobek Croix, where gaslight was brown and half-hearted where it existed at all. Behind them the enormous imbroglio of colour, metal, glass, sugar and sweat continued to pour its noise and light pollution into the sky." From Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. Oct 1, 2011
PossibleUnderscore I think the definition that is used more widely is an equal cross between the first and the third of the given definitions on this page. Jul 18, 2009
xntrek (*) etymology: italian - from imbrogliare to entangle; from middle french - embrouiller,
(*) would assume most english speakers would utilise embroil May 8, 2009
rolig "The one time he Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama explicitly addressed the issue of race, in his speech in Philadelphia on March 18 of this year – during the imbroglio over Reverend Jeremiah Wright – he took pains to show that he understood white anxieties about blacks."
– Elizabeth Drew, "The Truth About the Election," New York Review of Books, 18 December 2008 – 14 January 2009, 94. Dec 13, 2008