tangled
Americanadjective
-
snarled, interlaced, or mixed up.
tangled thread.
-
very complicated, intricate, or involved.
tangled bureaucratic procedures.
Etymology
Origin of tangled
Explanation
Tangled is an adjective that describes a confused mass. You're likely to hear tangled used most often when referring to hair. If it's tangled, you can't brush or comb through it. Other than discussing hair, tangled can be used to refer to anything that's jumbled up and confused. Like that tangled pile of wires behind your television and computer that you keep tripping over. Tangled can also mean something highly complicated or intricate, like the relationships between ex-wives, ex-husbands and stepchildren in a family. The word tangled is most famous for being included in a well-known literary quote from Sir Walter Scott's poem, "Marmion" — "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive."
Vocabulary lists containing tangled
"American Names"
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
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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.
I remember sitting in a wig salon in Richmond as the owner, Amy Holt, gently brushed though my tangled hair as it was falling out in large lumps.
From BBC • Jun. 3, 2026
The firm has been placed in a receivership and is unwinding what has been described as a tangled and only partially documented web of holdings.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026
Because of this tangled ownership history, many Bede scholars had considered the manuscript lost since 1975.
From Science Daily • May 17, 2026
When Raman and Bass tangled over the Police Department, he declared: “Mayor Bass funding the police was important, actually.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
His thoughts got so tangled that his mind gave up trying to revise his memory of seeing Angela vanish.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
