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:
After managing to untangle him, Lee said it was a struggle to get him back to the surface as he was "much bigger than me".
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
But the American guest list is a useful reminder of how difficult it has been to untangle the world’s two largest economies.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 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
But something in there was broken, which a senior engineer already behind on a deadline had to untangle, while Robin struggled to explain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
It was hard to untangle the threads of why someone acted the way they did.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
"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
Like a particularly sharp country song, it takes cliches and untangles and renews them.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 7, 2023
The Oscar, Tony and Emmy winner’s memoir untangles the story she constructed along the path to fame from the real one, a more difficult but ultimately more fulfilling narrative of struggle and success.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2022
Her eyes have been replaced by storm clouds, and she untangles her limbs from mine.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
When Emanuel fell ill in 1988, Emanuel’s son Jim and Jim’s wife Trudy stepped in, untangled the tax mess, and guided the company out of bankruptcy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 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
“The chicken or egg on how those things get untangled, and momentum shifted a different way, is a much bigger question,” Friedman continued.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2025
With this in mind, to create a map of the true relationships between Myotis bats, Foley and Murphy first untangled the genetic code for hybridization so they could tell more clearly which species were which.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 20, 2024
And so, obediently but without expectation, she had untangled and rebraided her hair, wiped away the kohl that had smudged below her eyes, patted some Cuticura powder from a velvet puff onto her skin.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Therefore, it is up to us to do the internal work of untangling these contradictions.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
Taking a stand will involve you untangling years of conditioning.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 27, 2026
A great interview for your evening dog walk: Anna Konkle had a difficult childhood, one that she’s still untangling.
From Slate ● Jun. 23, 2026
But a major challenge remained: untangling the criminal economy that had taken root in the mining region under Maduro’s rule.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
“C’mon, Cameron,” Jamie tried again, untangling himself from the pile and jogging over to the baby grand.
From "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" by emily m. danforth
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.
