enmesh
Americanverb (used with object)
-
enmeshes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
enmeshed,
past participle, past
-
enmeshing
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
enmeshsimple
-
enmeshessimple
-
have enmeshedperfect
-
has enmeshedperfect
-
am enmeshingprogressive
-
are enmeshingprogressive
-
is enmeshingprogressive
-
have been enmeshingperfect progressive
-
has been enmeshingperfect progressive
Past
-
enmeshedsimple
-
had enmeshedperfect
-
was enmeshingprogressive
-
were enmeshingprogressive
-
had been enmeshingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of enmesh
Explanation
To enmesh is to tangle or trap, the way a sea turtle might enmesh itself in a huge fishing net, or you might find yourself enmeshed in a long conversation with your talkative neighbor. You'll most often find the verb enmesh hidden within the phrase "be enmeshed in." Your kitten may get enmeshed in the snarl of yarn she's playing with — or your sister may become enmeshed in the fight between her two best friends. However you use this word, you'll find it equally appropriate for literal or figurative entanglements: "Don't enmesh me in your money making schemes!"
Vocabulary lists containing enmesh
Othello
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The Weight of Our Sky
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"Cinderella, the Legend"
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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:
In some of the book’s finest moments, Sheff explores her creative emergence, particularly her brash efforts to enmesh herself with Fluxus, the international art movement that celebrated the act of performance for performance’s sake.
From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2025
Not all bills before the committee Monday sought to enmesh religion with education.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 5, 2024
Like Bernstein, he has achieved genuine civic stature — and like Bernstein, enough of one to occasionally enmesh him in controversy.
From New York Times ● Feb. 7, 2023
Although her adventures eventually strain credulity, through her script — inspired by real events — Mihai manages to completely enmesh the viewer in a story that combines social drama with thriller, espionage and vigilante elements.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2022
Combing out the confusions which enmesh it, losing its sham and separate life and finding its true life there, it will know what to love and how to act.
From The Life of the Spirit and the Life of To-day by Evelyn Underhill
Writing to our senses as well as the characters enmeshes the viewers in Jimmy’s world, but Odenkirk’s pathos-soaked scoundrel makes the show breathe and kick.
From Salon ● Apr. 10, 2017
But what happens when it becomes harder and harder to tell the two apart -- where every attempt at definition just enmeshes us further?
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2016
The Red Mass has generated criticism over the decades, in part for the extent to which it enmeshes the high court with church affairs, and some members of the Supreme Court also have their qualms.
From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2015
These contrasting paint textures give the works a firm foothold in reality and reward up-close viewing, which enmeshes the eye in both their spatial paradoxes and everyday moods.
From New York Times ● Oct. 4, 2012
The formula works when the public fiction enmeshes itself with a private urgency.
From Public Opinion by Walter Lippmann
Heder didn’t want to disrupt the schooling of her two young children, ages 10 and 12, and has become too enmeshed in the area to want to leave it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Meanwhile, the job market remains enmeshed in an environment where employers aren’t letting many people go, but also seem reluctant to bring new workers on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
These two countries are longtime military and strategic allies, with deeply enmeshed economies and several thousand miles of minimally guarded border.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026
I get the sense it’s not that enmeshed now.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
There were dozens of them, intricate, enmeshed, one building on the other—one wrong, all wrong.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
Elwes has spent his years in California not just establishing his family life, but also further enmeshing himself in Hollywood.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
Your partner's actions push that one-to-one through a third person, erasing boundaries and enmeshing you all.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 12, 2021
For the actors, encountering and enmeshing with the community was an eye-opening experience.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 30, 2021
Late today she even succeeded in enmeshing the scorpion’s deadly stinger, attached to his lashing tall.
From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2018
He assured Sewlal Sookdee, if he were promised, as he had been, full protection, would join in the enmeshing of Ajeet Singh.
From Caste by William Alexander Fraser
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.
