straighten
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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straightens,
present (3rd person singular)
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straightened,
past participle, past
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straightening
present participle
verb
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to make or become straight
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(tr) to make neat or tidy
straighten your desk
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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straightenernoun
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overstraightenverb
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restraightenverb
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prestraightenverb (used with object)
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unstraightenedadjective
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well-straightenedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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straightensimple
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straightenssimple
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have straightenedperfect
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has straightenedperfect
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am straighteningprogressive
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are straighteningprogressive
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is straighteningprogressive
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have been straighteningperfect progressive
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has been straighteningperfect progressive
Past
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straightenedsimple
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had straightenedperfect
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was straighteningprogressive
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were straighteningprogressive
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had been straighteningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of straighten
Explanation
When you straighten something, you either unbend it or tidy it up. So you might straighten your legs, get off the couch, and straighten the room. To make something straight is to straighten it. When you uncross your legs and stretch them out in front of you, you straighten them. And if you adjust a picture on the wall so it's perfectly level, you straighten it. In the the 14th century, the equivalent verb was straight — so in those days, your mom would have said, "Straight your bedroom before you go out with your friends!"
Vocabulary lists containing straighten
List 10
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"The Giving Tree"
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Spelling Practice 3, Unit 4
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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.
See Examples For:
“You want to straighten out your press,” Trump said before bringing the conversation to an end.
From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2026
“You have New Orleans, which has a crime problem. We’ll straighten that out in two weeks, easier than D.C.,”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025
Or could the head of the country's supreme audit institution, another Socialist named Pierre Moscovici, help straighten the country's finances?
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2025
Should these innings be used to straighten out previously-successful relievers such as Treinen and Scott?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2025
“Because I made you let me straighten it.”
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
A microlens array first aligns and straightens the light from each laser.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 2, 2026
The Mercator map is arguably the best for this purpose, because it straightens out spiraling rhumb lines, and that’s why it rose to dominance.
From Slate ● Jan. 21, 2026
Whatever you wear, I hope you share M&M’s and popcorn with someone who straightens your crown.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2024
“These are the people who died fighting against the junta,” says Vala as he straightens a bouquet that’s fallen over near the grave of his brother-in-law.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2024
He straightens up slowly, gingerly, like something hurts, but the pain doesn’t show on his face.
From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
He played sensibly, taking 80 balls over his 58, until he was bowled by a wicked delivery from Foulkes that angled in, then straightened.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
A very kind woman working behind the desk straightened me out: I was being too literal.
From Slate ● Dec. 29, 2025
“The tears that I have shed over this, the frustration, the hours on the phone, trying to get it straightened out,” said Reisen, who lives in the Philadelphia area.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2025
When his Part D drug plan declined to cover one of his medications, the office staff called the insurance company and got it straightened out, saving him time and frustration.
From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2025
Everyone saw the mess that made, and it had taken years to get history straightened back out.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
His grand goal was to reduce flooding, ease navigation and expand commercial shipping capacity by straightening the river’s course and shortening the distance between Basel and Bonn by 50 miles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
"Great effort went into straightening rivers to harness them for our use, but also into enabling agriculture by draining the wetlands."
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
“We’re supposed to be bright and alert pupils with intelligent and witty repartee,” Cumberbatch says, straightening up with feigned attention.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2025
Mr Jabbar had operated on Jodee's daughter in 2022, when she was eight years old, fitting metal plates into her knees for leg lengthening and straightening.
From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2024
Malik sits up, straightening out his basketball shorts.
From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas
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.
