imbroglio

noun

im·​bro·​glio im-ˈbrōl-(ˌ)yō 

plural imbroglios

1

a

: an acutely painful or embarrassing misunderstanding

b

: scandal sense 1a

survived the political imbroglio

c

: a violently confused or bitterly complicated altercation : embroilment

America's president and scientific establishment became furiously embroiled with a few writers of popular nature books for children. The imbroglio ended in the rout of the nature writers …

—Matt Cartmill

d

: an intricate or complicated situation (as in a drama or novel)

2

: a confused mass

Did you know?

Ever noticed how an imbroglio embroils people in controversy? There’s a reason for that—an etymological one, anyway. Both the noun imbroglio (referring to, among other things, a scandal or bitter argument) and verb embroil (“to involve in conflicts or difficulties”) come from the Middle French word embrouiller, a combination of the prefix en- and brouiller, meaning “to jumble,” though they took slightly different paths. Embroil’s was direct, passing from Middle French through French and into English around the turn of the 16th century. Italians altered embrouiller to form imbrogliare, meaning “to entangle,” which spawned the noun imbroglio that English speakers embraced in the mid-18th century. English imbroglio first referred to a confused mass, and later expanded to cover confusing social situations such as complicated disputes, misunderstandings, and scandals.

Synonyms of imbroglio

• dispute
• controversy
• altercation
• quarrel
• disagreement
• argument
• fight
• bicker

Examples of imbroglio in a Sentence

a celebrated imbroglio involving some big names in the New York literary scene

Recent Examples on the Web

Lina Abushouk, analyzing the imbroglio for the website Africa Is a Country, observed that the story’s stylistic quirks revealed the formal and expressive qualities that Euro-American publishers expect and demand from African and Caribbean authors. —Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 10 June 2026

Wong’s departure adds to the headache Levine Cava is facing from the fuel yard imbroglio, which also led her to force out her longest-serving deputy, Jimmy Morales, who oversaw the port. —Douglas Hanks june 9, Miami Herald, 9 June 2026

Diplomacy is the only way out of this imbroglio. —Asher Kaufman, The Conversation, 1 June 2026

The imbroglio marks yet another controversy in the early tenure of Weiss, who was installed as CBS News’ editorial leader last year, and has demonstrated a noticeable lack of knowledge about how to maintain TV programming. —Brian Steinberg, Variety, 27 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

Italian, from imbrogliare to entangle, from Middle French embrouiller — more at embroil

First Known Use

1750, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!