embroider
/ɪmˈbɹɔɪdɚ/
"embroider" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“embroider” is uncommon English (frequency #75,840 among 18,836 “E” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #75,840
- frequency rank, English
- 18,836
- “E” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread of various colours.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | embroider |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɪmˈbɹɔɪdɚ/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #75,840 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “embroider” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
embroider is uncommon English at frequency #75,840 among 18,836 “E” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ɪmˈbɹɔɪdɚ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for embroider, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English embrouderen, frequentative of embrouden (“to decorate, embroider”), equivalent to embroid + -er. Middle English embrouden itself comes from Anglo-Norman embrouder, from Old French embrosder (“to embroider”), ultimately of Germanic origin… The correct English form is embroider, spelled E-M-B-R-O-I-D-E-R.
Definition
- 1To stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread of various colours.
- 2To add imaginary detail to a narrative to make it more interesting or acceptable.
Etymology
From Middle English embrouderen, frequentative of embrouden (“to decorate, embroider”), equivalent to embroid + -er. Middle English embrouden itself comes from Anglo-Norman embrouder, from Old French embrosder (“to embroider”), ultimately of Germanic origin, though the exact pathway is uncertain. Possibly an intensive of Old French brosder, brouder (compare Norman broudaïr), from Gothic *𐌱𐍂𐌿𐌶𐌳𐍉𐌽 (*bruzdōn), related to English bristle and brad. Alternatively, perhaps from Frankish *anbroʀdōn (“to embroider, stitch”), related to Old High German anabrortōn (“to embroider”), Old English onbryrdan (“to prick, incite”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “embroider”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-M-B-R-O-I-D-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪmˈbɹɔɪdɚ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.