French Conversation · Level 119
60 words
French word
embrouiller
Pronunciation
IPA/ɑ̃bʁuje/
Meaning
- verbconfuse
Example
Cette explication embrouille tout le monde.
This explanation confuses everyone.
More examples
Le discours du ministre embrouille souvent les auditeurs.
The minister's speech often confuses the audience.
Core concept
A knot of mixed threads that makes the main path of an explanation hard to follow.
Common phrases
embrouiller quelqu'un
confuse someone
embrouiller les idées
confuse the ideas
embrouiller la situation
confuse the situation
Similar words
confondre: Lead similar things or information to be confused with one another.
brouiller: Scramble information or its sequence, making it less clear.
perturber: Hinder the normal course of a process or disturb an existing state.
mélanger: Blend separate things or information together so that they are no longer distinct.
Definition in French
Troubler la clarté d'une situation ou d'une explication en mêlant des éléments, entraînant la confusion.
Word origin
Embrouiller combines en- with brouiller, which developed from Old French broillier, meaning to mix and throw into disorder.
Usage tips
- Embrouiller takes a direct object without a preposition, as in Cette explication embrouille tout le monde.