embattled

adjective

em·bat·tled | \im-ˈba-tᵊld

Definition of embattled

1a : ready to fight : prepared to give battle here once the embattled farmers stood— R. W. Emerson

b : engaged in battle, conflict, or controversy an embattled official accused of extortion

2a : being a site of battle, conflict, or controversy the embattled capital

b : characterized by conflict or controversy an embattled presidency

Examples of embattled in a Sentence

the embattled coach of a losing team

Recent Examples on the Web

But the most embattled Trump official of all actually managed to strengthen his position. — Matthew Yglesias, Vox, "The 4 most important stories of the week, explained," 22 June 2018 The Italian web filled with images of the city’s embattled mayor, Virginia Raggi of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, fiddling like Nero on a harp as the city, or its buses, burned. — New York Times, "Rome Is Burning (or at Least Its Buses Are)," 10 May 2018 Media: Wibbitz Al Pacino: Getting Al Pacino to play Joe Paterno in the HBO movie about the embattled former Penn State football coach would seem to be Emmy bait of the highest order. — Cary Darling, Houston Chronicle, "Here's who got snubbed at the Emmy nominations," 12 July 2018 But then Argentina and its embattled coach, Jorge Sampaoli, were missing a number of elements. — Christopher Clarey, New York Times, "Messi Exits the World Cup. Hours Later, So Does Ronaldo.," 1 July 2018 Speculation has swirled around the embattled coach ever since the college basketball recruiting scandal broke in September. — Greg Moore, azcentral, "Moore: Will Sean Miller stay at Arizona after tournament loss, NCAA scandal, Pitt report?," 21 Mar. 2018 Equally alarming to many was his argument that sitting presidents should be exempted from civil suits and criminal prosecution — a pretty obvious reason for the embattled administration to have picked him. — refinery29.com, "All 34 Official Nods For Brett Kavanaugh Were By Men. Here's What 34 Women Think.," 10 July 2018 Andrew Wheeler, the No. 2 official at EPA, will take over the agency Monday now that President Donald Trump has accepted the resignation of embattled administrator Scott Pruitt. — Matthew Daly, BostonGlobe.com, "Andrew Wheeler, the EPA’s new leader, is a former coal lobbyist," 5 July 2018 Before Tartine came around to take over the Ninth Avenue spot, the address was going to become an outpost for embattled coffee roaster Four Barrel. — Justin Phillips, SFChronicle.com, "Tartine Bakery continues expansion in 2018 with new Inner Sunset project," 2 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'embattled.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.