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.
Appeared in the February 7, 2026, print edition as 'Lost in Epstein’s Web ruth, Consequences and the Limits of Epstein’s Web Jeffrey Epstein’s Tangled Web'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 7, 2026
Tangled up with a Georgia Southern defender, Lane needed just a single outstretched arm to pull down the Trojans’ first score.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 6, 2025
Tangled around its tail was a polypropylene rope used to pull up crab traps.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 4, 2023
A few virtual steps on and I'm staring at Tangled Trickster - an intriguing work by American visual artist, Aisha Tandiwe Bell, who is famous for using mixed media to create myth and ritual.
From BBC • Jun. 20, 2022
Tangled in each other, they couldn’t escape from the tarp’s canvas hold fast enough, and Sigurd wrapped them back up in it like a picnic lunch, forming a bag around them.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
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.
