imbue

/ɪmˈbju/

/ɪmˈbju/

Other forms: imbued; imbuing; imbues

To imbue is to fill up with or become "soaked" in an idea or emotion, as a sponge takes in water. One visit to a sick relative in a hospital might be enough to imbue a child with a lifelong ambition to become a doctor.

You can use imbue in a similar way as "saturate," or "soak through," to describe a filling or absorbing. A "hue" is a color, and it rhymes with imbue. When you're imbued with something, you are, in a way, colored by it. If you imbue a dish sponge with oily orange water from a spaghetti bowl, the color and the oil soak in. To fill people with qualities or emotions is, for example, to imbue them with strength or optimism.

Definitions of imbue

1. verb

   spread or diffuse through
   synonyms: diffuse, interpenetrate, penetrate, permeate, pervade, riddle

   types:

   spiritise, spiritize

   imbue with a spirit

   type of:

   penetrate, perforate

   pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance
2. verb

   fill, soak, or imbue totally
   synonyms: soak

   types:

   infuse, steep

   let sit in a liquid to extract a flavor or to cleanse

   brew

   sit or let sit in boiling water so as to extract the flavor

   marinade, marinate

   soak in marinade

   decoct

   steep in hot water

   infuse

   undergo the process of infusion

   draw

   steep; pass through a strainer

   type of:

   impregnate, saturate

   infuse or fill completely
3. verb

   suffuse with color
   synonyms: hue

   type of:

   color, color in, colorise, colorize, colour, colour in, colourise, colourize

   add color to
4. verb

   give qualities or abilities to
   synonyms: empower, endow, endue, gift, indue, invest

   types:

   cover

   invest with a large or excessive amount of something

   type of:

   enable

   render capable or able for some task