tangled

[tang-guhld]

adjective

1. snarled, interlaced, or mixed up.

   tangled thread.

2. very complicated, intricate, or involved.

   tangled bureaucratic procedures.

Word History and Origins

Origin of tangled¹

First recorded in 1580–90; tangle ¹ + -ed ²

Example Sentences

Leading AI firms have been investing in one another, creating a tangled web of deals that has been drawing scrutiny.

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Teasing out the plot’s tangled threads and expecting each to adhere to logic is a fool’s errand, yet what viewer will insist this type of picture have an airtight story?

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

For decades, scientists have known that Alzheimer's disease is marked by sticky plaques and tangled proteins in the brain.

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On the course, elaborate tombs of the city's past rulers poke through tangled trees that are home to peacocks, troops of monkeys and mongooses.

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Deftly unraveling the tangled politics of the moment, Mr. Wallace vividly shows La Guardia juggling factions of fusionist Republicans, communists, interventionists, isolationists, Tammany pols and a rat’s nest of the city’s fierce ethnic rivalries.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• chaotic 
• knotted 
• muddled 
• trapped 
• twisted