Pick the formal, common word "imbue" (instead of a more basic word, like "fill") when you want to sound poetic, artistic, dramatic, or enthusiastic as you describe how some particular quality has filled, colored, soaked, or saturated into something or someone.

Say that someone or something is imbued with a quality: "Lola Young's voice is imbued with grit and passion." Or, say that some quality has been imbued in or into someone or something: "Grit and passion are imbued into Lola Young's voice."

Or, let a person do the imbuing: "Lola Young imbues her voice with grit and passion."

Besides grit and passion, we talk about things and people who are imbued with color, light, hope, joy, meaning, significance, intelligence, power, ambition, and so on.

And though it's most common to talk about positive qualities that are imbued, they can be negative too. You might complain about a speech imbued with hatred or a joke imbued with racism.

"The term 'correction officer' is imbued with the promise of reform and assistance."  
  — Ted Conover, Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing, 2000

"A statue... appeared to have been shaped out of the oak stump rooted there in the ground: a deer's head. She sat on the bench and stared at it, wondering who had made it, who had imbued such life into the way the ears tilted." 
   — Malinda Lo, Huntress, 2011

has this page helped you understand "imbue"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "imbue" without saying "fill" or "infuse."

try it out:

From the novel If I Stay by Gayle Forman:

"I'd felt so brazen tonight, like the Halloween costume had imbued me with a new personality, one more worthy of Adam, of my family."

Could you explain what this teenage narrator means? How could a costume imbue her with a new sense of self-worth?

And, can you relate? Is there some object, person, or experience in your own life that imbues you with a greater sense of your own worth, or imbues you with a deeper sense of contentment or happiness?

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "Words On Words On Birds."

Use your knowledge of vocabulary to answer questions about the terminology describing names for birds.

Try this today:

Which bird name is a patronym?

A. Anna's Hummingbird
B. Paloma
C. Quetzal
D. Yellow-bellied sap sucker

Need a hint? Highlight the hidden text: Think of the meaning of words like "paternal" and "patrimony."

To see the answer, scroll all the way down. 

review this word:

1. Opposites of IMBUE include

A. REST and RETIRE.
B. DRAIN and EXTRACT.
C. KINDLE and IGNITE.

2. Here's William Wordsworth:

"Far-distant images draw nigh,
Called forth by wondrous potency
Of beamy radiance, that imbues,
Whate'er it strikes, _____ gem-like _____!"

A. in .. views
B. to .. muse
C. with .. hues

Answers to the review questions: 1. B 2. C From the game: Which bird name is a patronym? A. "Anna’s Hummingbird" is the correct answer. B. Paloma C. Quetzal D. Yellow-bellied sap sucker A "patronym," from Greek and meaning "a name from a father," is a name that honors a specific person. It doesn't have to be the person who discovered the bird. Sources say that Anna's Hummingbird was named for Anne Debelle, Princesse d'Essling, the wife of the ornithologist François Victor Masséna. But Masséna didn't discover the bird, either. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.