untangle
Americanverb (used with object)
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untangles,
present (3rd person singular)
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untangled,
past participle, past
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untangling
present participle
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to bring out of a tangled state; disentangle; unsnarl.
-
to straighten out or clear up (anything confused or perplexing).
verb
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to free from a tangled condition
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to free from perplexity or confusion
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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untanglesimple
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untanglessimple
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have untangledperfect
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has untangledperfect
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am untanglingprogressive
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are untanglingprogressive
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is untanglingprogressive
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have been untanglingperfect progressive
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has been untanglingperfect progressive
Past
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untangledsimple
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had untangledperfect
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was untanglingprogressive
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were untanglingprogressive
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had been untanglingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of untangle
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:
After managing to untangle him, Lee said it was a struggle to get him back to the surface as he was "much bigger than me".
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
But the American guest list is a useful reminder of how difficult it has been to untangle the world’s two largest economies.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026
He told the judge it would be impossible to untangle the two companies if they are allowed to combine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Attribution science seeks to untangle how much human-caused climate change shaped a specific heat wave, storm or flood, and its findings now shape litigation and policy.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
It was confusing and frightening, not in a way I could untangle.
From "Grendel" by John Gardner
Dowling, author of a previous biography of Shepard’s idol Eugene O’Neill, expertly untangles the history of a man who contained multitudes — “country boy, playwright, lover, rocker, husband, father.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2025
"This work untangles some of the secrets and shows how N-terminal acetylation shape individual protein fate," Thomas Arnesen concludes.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2023
"It is hard for the government to shore up economic growth unless it untangles the complex knot of weak confidence," said Gary Ng, senior economist at Natixis Corporate and Investment Bank.
From Reuters ● Jul. 31, 2023
Like a particularly sharp country song, it takes cliches and untangles and renews them.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 7, 2023
Her eyes have been replaced by storm clouds, and she untangles her limbs from mine.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
“That innocuous little essay untangled some aching knot inside me,” she writes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
In a sense, then, the alliance is held together by complex supply chains and contractual agreements that could not possibly be untangled overnight.
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2025
Reading a Roman play call that’s so long that it requires quarterbacks to wear wristbands doesn’t seem that difficult after he’s untangled differential equations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2024
Pospisil landed on top of him, the players untangled themselves and play continued without a penalty call.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 4, 2024
“Wait,” Trip said, and gently untangled her hair from her collar.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Therefore, it is up to us to do the internal work of untangling these contradictions.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
Taking a stand will involve you untangling years of conditioning.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 27, 2026
It was in that office where I began untangling some of my own history, much of which would later appear in my first book.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026
One does wonder how the actors fishing while swapping such insipid dialogue don’t cross their leaders and spend most of the time untangling, before flying their plane into the middle of a Rocky Mountain thunderstorm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
The place to begin untangling these contradictions is the North Carolina Mutual Insurance Company—symbol of “Negro Progress.”
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
