straighten
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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)
-
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:
She says every effort thereafter to straighten things out met the runaround.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2025
It took a meeting with the inflation-slaying giant of a former Fed chair, Paul Volcker, to straighten him out.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2025
Her forfeit was to straighten her mop of curly hair for the team's evening meal.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2025
Should these innings be used to straighten out previously-successful relievers such as Treinen and Scott?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2025
His glasses sat crooked on his nose, but he didn't bother to straighten them.
From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat
A microlens array first aligns and straightens the light from each laser.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 2, 2026
“We are going to take those sanctions off until this straightens out,” Trump said Monday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 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
Mr. Barris straightens a pile of papers on his desk while he considers his response.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
When she straightened up, her face was flush with a wide-eyed glow: “Oh my God!”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
A very kind woman working behind the desk straightened me out: I was being too literal.
From Slate ● Dec. 29, 2025
“The tears that I have shed over this, the frustration, the hours on the phone, trying to get it straightened out,” said Reisen, who lives in the Philadelphia area.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2025
When his Part D drug plan declined to cover one of his medications, the office staff called the insurance company and got it straightened out, saving him time and frustration.
From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2025
Ambuya straightened up and put her hands on her hips.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
“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
As he arrived, straightening his tie, to be confirmed in the top job in central London 10 days ago, I asked him why he'd taken so long.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
We may all recoil in horror at “Mar-a-Lago face”—and you might be rolling your eyes at my foray into the world of butt-crack straightening.
From Slate ● Feb. 22, 2026
He may be the latest out of many to play the role, but the same devotion to straightening odd knots keeps him ever-relevant.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2025
He comes out smiling, straightening his new wide-brimmed black hat.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
Definitions 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.
