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embattled

UK/ɛmˈbætl̩d/US/ɛmˈbæt(ə)ld/
adjectiveC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #15,015 of 15,258leans written

Embattled means under attack from all sides. An embattled leader, the embattled minister, embattled and defiant.

In the press it is the standard adjective for somebody about to resign, and it does the work of saying so without saying so. The older architectural sense is different and literal: an embattled wall is one with battlements along the top.

Definitions of embattled

  1. 1adjectiveembattledUnder attack from all sides.C1

    “The embattled mayor faced angry questions from the press, the police and his own party.”

embattled is a state.

Where it comes from

From embattle, from Old French embataillier, to set in battle order, from bataille, a battle.

From embattle + ed.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

embattled in the wild

  • James,) has an embattled tower, six bells and a handsomely carved screen.

    Chawleigh

  • There is also a west tower, and a rood turret near the junction of the nave and chancel, both of which are embattled.

    Ufford, Cambridgeshire

  • Opposed to Calvinism, he was an isolated and embattled bishop of the reign of Elizabeth I, though able to keep his see.

    Richard Cheyney

  • The church has a Norman doorway, and an embattled tower.

    Henstead

  • Leo Biasiucci was elected in 2018 to succeed embattled State Representative Paul Mosley.

    Leo Biasiucci

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.