entangle
Americanverb (used with object)
-
entangles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
entangled,
past participle, past
-
entangling
present participle
verb
-
to catch or involve in or as if in a tangle; ensnare or enmesh
-
to make tangled or twisted; snarl
-
to make complicated; confuse
-
to involve in difficulties; entrap
Synonym Usage
See involve.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
entanglednessnoun
-
entanglernoun
-
interentangleverb (used with object)
-
entangleableadjective
-
unentangleableadjective
-
unentangledadjective
-
unentanglingadjective
-
entangledlyadverb
-
entanglinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
entanglesimple
-
entanglessimple
-
have entangledperfect
-
has entangledperfect
-
am entanglingprogressive
-
are entanglingprogressive
-
is entanglingprogressive
-
have been entanglingperfect progressive
-
has been entanglingperfect progressive
Past
-
entangledsimple
-
had entangledperfect
-
was entanglingprogressive
-
were entanglingprogressive
-
had been entanglingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of entangle
Explanation
To entangle is to snarl, intertwine with, or get caught in. Too often, dolphins entangle themselves in large fishing nets meant to catch tuna or swordfish. If you mean to trip your brother, you can entangle your leg around his, and when long-haired people don't brush it for days, it will snarl and entangle itself. A figurative way to entangle is to get caught up in a complicated situation: "I didn't mean to entangle you in this mess with my roommates!" Entangle's roots are en-, "put in" or "cause to be" and tangle, or "snarl."
Vocabulary lists containing entangle
Messenger
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!
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: en-, em-
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!
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
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.
See Examples For:
In a prototype device, the researchers used a shared source of correlated light particles to entangle two separated qubits, experimentally realizing an idea that had remained theoretical for more than two decades.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026
The way the central couple navigates the twists, turns, roadblocks and unforced errors that entangle their budding relationship is the beating heart of these films.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
It’s written in a broad way that could entangle Congress in other aspects of city governance, which probably isn’t a good use of lawmakers’ time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Mulino has insisted the canal's neutrality is intact and has urged Washington not to entangle Panama in its rivalry with Beijing.
From Barron's ● Jan. 30, 2026
The overgrown limberjack dived at the golem’s feet, using both arms and legs to entangle Hugo’s ankles.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
Even if the property still stands, there is the possibility that it has been owned by multiple Cuban households over the decades, a long chain of custody that entangles original ownership.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Those numbers, however, don't amount to much in the grand scheme, given the rate at which Louisiana "incarcerates and prosecutes and entangles people in the criminal legal system left and right every day," Romero said.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2024
But the operatic plot is a skein that sometimes entangles its colorful character and other times leaves them panting with exhaustion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2023
A mass of knotted rope entangles like tentacles or whirs when swung by a spinning dancer.
From New York Times ● Mar. 30, 2023
It then entangles its claws in the web to hold itself in place while the skin is cast.
From Butterflies Worth Knowing by Clarence M. Weed
Biologists are hoping to save a humpback whale last seen entangled in a fishing net off the coast of San Pedro.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
Instead of gathering a large collection of measurements and reconstructing the state afterward, this type of measurement can identify an entangled state using a one-shot approach.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 29, 2026
In the worst case she has seen, one of her clients was entangled in what appeared to be a romance scam.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
"This shows just how entangled our medicines are with the non-human world," Dr Freymann told BBC News.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
My grip on it broke, and aware that I had struck the devilfish, I quickly dropped the coils I held, for when the string runs out fast it burns your hands or becomes entangled.
From "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell
The other $0.9 trillion is the Treasury’s General Account, where the Treasury parks cash awaiting disbursement—an entangling service the Fed only began providing in 2008.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
Washington's warning about the dangers of entangling alliances was followed for 150 years.
From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2026
More consolidation – and more influential corporate giants – risks more deeply entangling the interests of profit-driven companies in America’s food system.
From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2024
If the hair is longer than 2 inches, bury it in the soil to avoid entangling birds’ feet, she recommends.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2024
Beneath the entangling personal motives, the debate is one of the oldest in the Western philosophical tradition, between nomos and physis.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
