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:
I rarely straighten my mop of thick, curly hair, and when I do, it’s not always a great experience.
From Salon ● Feb. 2, 2026
“You have New Orleans, which has a crime problem. We’ll straighten that out in two weeks, easier than D.C.,”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 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
Should these innings be used to straighten out previously-successful relievers such as Treinen and Scott?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2025
My heart jumped up in my throat as I watched Mrs. Wigginbottom heave herself to her feet and straighten her cuffs, clearly insulted by the tone my aunt had taken.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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
He straightens it out and enhances its faded colour with careful strokes of a pencil.
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2025
He visibly straightens and says to Drummond, “Devour feculence,” establishing that this is how he naturally speaks.
From Salon ● Mar. 19, 2025
Clutching the bow in those strong toes, he raises it to chest level and straightens his leg to attain a full draw.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2024
Without another word to Helmuth, Mutti straightens her skirt, links her arm in Hugo's, and leaves.
From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
“It’ll be back down once we get things straightened out.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
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
Noting the long-standing tensions between North and South Korea, Trump said "we will see what we can do to get that all straightened out".
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2025
His breath fogged on the icy air as he straightened.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
"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
Together, they launched Altadena Girls to gather donations including beauty and hair products — fragrances, makeup, pimple patches, straightening tools and diffusers — and new clothing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 14, 2025
Mr Jabbar had operated on Jodee's daughter in 2022, when she was eight years old, fitting metal plates into her knees for leg lengthening and straightening.
From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2024
I start down the hall for the back door, straightening a few of the framed pictures as I go.
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
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.
