straighten
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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 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
“And we’ll straighten that one out probably next. That’ll be our next one after this. And it won’t even be tough.”
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2025
In contrast, Bobby was strictly observant of this rule and said “j’adoube” first whenever he touched a piece to straighten it.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
A microlens array first aligns and straightens the light from each laser.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 2, 2026
“We are going to take those sanctions off until this straightens out,” Trump said Monday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 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
He visibly straightens and says to Drummond, “Devour feculence,” establishing that this is how he naturally speaks.
From Salon ● Mar. 19, 2025
Then Lala straightens up and flashes me a smile of white and gold-plated teeth.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
Their mother, whom Jerry has been looking after, is dying, and there are medical bills that need to be straightened out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
A very kind woman working behind the desk straightened me out: I was being too literal.
From Slate ● Dec. 29, 2025
Noting the long-standing tensions between North and South Korea, Trump said "we will see what we can do to get that all straightened out".
From BBC ● Oct. 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
Instead she stopped, straightened, and pointed to his books with her broom.
From "Tiger Boy" by Mitali Perkins
West of Hoover Street, the grid reorients itself, straightening into an American-style street grid.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
He may be the latest out of many to play the role, but the same devotion to straightening odd knots keeps him ever-relevant.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2025
“I keep thinking: Maybe he will come back?” she said, straightening the papers.
From Slate ● Dec. 4, 2024
"Ukrainian soldiers are strong because it's our land. It's my country. My daughter, my son, are here. My heart is here," he said, his back straightening.
From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2024
Mother was already bustling around, straightening up the drawing room.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
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.
