disentangle
Americanverb (used with or without object)
verb
-
to release or become free from entanglement or confusion
-
(tr) to unravel or work out
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of disentangle
Explanation
When you disentangle something, you free it from a snarl or tangle. If you have long hair and pierced ears, you've probably had to disentangle an earring from a curl of hair. Something that becomes tangled or twisted needs someone to disentangle it — you might disentangle your kitten from a length of yarn, or disentangle your jacket from a thorny bush when you're hiking through the woods. You can also disentangle someone figuratively, helping them get out of an uncomfortable or difficult situation. Tangle is at the heart of disentangle, from the fourteenth century word tagilen, "to involve in a difficult situation."
Vocabulary lists containing disentangle
The Miracle Worker
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
James and the Giant Peach
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Swindle
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
"To disentangle the relative roles of innovation and environmental change, we need further analyses of trait-dependent diversification, fossil-informed timelines and performance tests that link true crabs' sideways movement to adaptive advantages," Kawabata adds.
From Science Daily • May 2, 2026
But the more we rely on this power, the more our rivals aim to disentangle their economies from our own.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025
That coincided with rising industrialisation, when burning of fossil fuels, particularly coal, began to heat up our atmosphere, but it's hard to disentangle natural and human causes that far back in time.
From BBC • Oct. 4, 2025
“There's this thing that we all have called personal subjective consciousness, and that becomes hard to disentangle from the concept of self.”
From Salon • May 26, 2025
I disentangle from Garrett and end up pressed up between Simon and Bram.
From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli
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.
