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.
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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:
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
No need to untangle the complex hypocrisy here — it’s all laid out in arrows and diagrams.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
Years of additional legal proceedings have yet to untangle who is to blame.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
She had made a complete mishmash of the string and could not untangle her fingers from the knot.
From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson
In writing about the ways folks hold together during difficult times, Trías untangles the myths and realities of resilience.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2024
"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
Copper’s uncle untangles the mystery of the style’s creation, showing how Greek artists brought east by Alexander the Great took up Buddhist subjects, which turned the physical affirmations of their own work more mystically inward.
From New York Times ● Nov. 12, 2021
There's a storm in her eyes, but she forces a smile and gently untangles her fingers from mine.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
Unlike in three dimensions, those paths cannot simply be untangled afterward.
From Science Daily ● May 9, 2026
How can Mr. Warsh get the Fed untangled?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 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
His patience was steady as I cut cords and untangled myself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2024
A few hours later, with the moon still visible in the gray-blue morning sky, I gently untangled Zu’s fingers from the front of my dress and slipped out of the bed.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
Jenée Desmond-Harris offers advice on untangling this knotty disagreement.
From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2026
The novel follows Susan, a queer creative untangling the coulda, woulda, shoulda situationship that has spanned decades, while grappling with the reality of a career that dips and shifts in a changing media landscape.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
Taking a stand will involve you untangling years of conditioning.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 27, 2026
Market volatility is creating a golden opportunity for new private-equity deals—but not for untangling a global bottleneck of almost 33,000 portfolio companies waiting to be sold, industry executives say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
When I get downstairs, Dad is untangling the lights and making three straight lines from the socket across the den floor.
From "Please Ignore Vera Dietz" by A.S. King
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.
