straighten
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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straightens,
present (3rd person singular)
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straightened,
past participle, past
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straightening
present participle
verb
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to make or become straight
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(tr) to make neat or tidy
straighten your desk
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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straightenernoun
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overstraightenverb
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restraightenverb
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prestraightenverb (used with object)
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unstraightenedadjective
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well-straightenedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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straightensimple
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straightenssimple
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have straightenedperfect
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has straightenedperfect
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am straighteningprogressive
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are straighteningprogressive
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is straighteningprogressive
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have been straighteningperfect progressive
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has been straighteningperfect progressive
Past
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straightenedsimple
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had straightenedperfect
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was straighteningprogressive
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were straighteningprogressive
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had been straighteningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of straighten
Explanation
When you straighten something, you either unbend it or tidy it up. So you might straighten your legs, get off the couch, and straighten the room. To make something straight is to straighten it. When you uncross your legs and stretch them out in front of you, you straighten them. And if you adjust a picture on the wall so it's perfectly level, you straighten it. In the the 14th century, the equivalent verb was straight — so in those days, your mom would have said, "Straight your bedroom before you go out with your friends!"
Vocabulary lists containing straighten
List 10
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"The Giving Tree"
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Spelling Practice 3, Unit 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The researchers identified four characteristics that can help determine whether a tilted tropical cyclone is likely to straighten vertically.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
“You want to straighten out your press,” Trump said before bringing the conversation to an end.
From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2026
She says every effort thereafter to straighten things out met the runaround.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2025
Her forfeit was to straighten her mop of curly hair for the team's evening meal.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2025
She laid out the paper she had, ran her hands over it as if to straighten it out.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
On her character’s wedding day, Colman traipses into the church like it’s a prank, then nervously straightens up as she realizes this ceremony is serious.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
They then performed leg extensions, an exercise in which a person sits and straightens the lower legs against resistance to lift a weight.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
The Mercator map is arguably the best for this purpose, because it straightens out spiraling rhumb lines, and that’s why it rose to dominance.
From Slate ● Jan. 21, 2026
Whatever you wear, I hope you share M&M’s and popcorn with someone who straightens your crown.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2024
When this shaggy-haired man sees that we have food, he straightens up and sniffs hard as if it’s for him.
From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
Instead of maintaining their curved shapes, the stems slowly straightened until they became nearly straight again.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 1, 2026
"If there is a problem, I will get it straightened out," he said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
“I’m going to be helping a certain air company get themselves straightened away,” he said, after he learned it has significant domestic operations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
Phair is at home too, makeup on and hair straightened, various musical instruments on the wall behind her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
They locked the safe, replaced the floorboards and straightened the runner over them.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
To determine what caused this change, the team examined the structure of the wood that developed during the straightening process.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 1, 2026
"Expansion and straightening cause water to drain away into the North Sea and Baltic Sea even faster, rather than being retained in the surrounding area."
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
“It is a little more of the same, but it is going to be straightening out,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
West of Hoover Street, the grid reorients itself, straightening into an American-style street grid.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
“I think I will soon be having that same wish for both of you as well,” the king said, his shoulders straightening as if he were awakening.
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
