1
as in unraveling
to separate the various strands of
it took forever to disentangle the knot
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in freeing
to set free from entanglement or difficulty
the years that it took to disentangle ourselves from our troubles after someone started using our social security numbers
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of disentangling
The fundamental goal of the 1787 Constitution was to establish a republican form of government — and that meant disentangling the traditional powers of the monarch and placing them in different branches of government.
—
David French, Mercury News, 3 Mar. 2026
Embedded in a patriarchal family within an oppressive society, Mrie faces the challenge of disentangling herself from both.
—Los Angeles Times, 24 Feb. 2026
Our narrator, a gay, happily married father of two disentangling himself from a poly love affair, is—depending on the light—brilliant, self-mythologizing, abject, hopeful, and vulnerable.
—Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2025
Brittany Luse is joined by writer and journalist Ana Marie Cox to get into how people are disentangling alcohol from their lives, and the lessons she's learned as a recovering alcoholic.
—Veralyn Williams, NPR, 6 Jan. 2025
Patel has talked about disentangling the FBI’s intelligence-gathering operations — now a core function of the bureau’s mandate — from the rest of its operations.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 1 Dec. 2024
For conditions like obesity, neurodegenerative disease (like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases), and some psychiatric diseases (like depression), disentangling cause from effect is more challenging.
—Keren Landman, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
David French, Mercury News, 3 Mar. 2026
Embedded in a patriarchal family within an oppressive society, Mrie faces the challenge of disentangling herself from both.
—Los Angeles Times, 24 Feb. 2026
Our narrator, a gay, happily married father of two disentangling himself from a poly love affair, is—depending on the light—brilliant, self-mythologizing, abject, hopeful, and vulnerable.
—Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2025
Brittany Luse is joined by writer and journalist Ana Marie Cox to get into how people are disentangling alcohol from their lives, and the lessons she's learned as a recovering alcoholic.
—Veralyn Williams, NPR, 6 Jan. 2025
Patel has talked about disentangling the FBI’s intelligence-gathering operations — now a core function of the bureau’s mandate — from the rest of its operations.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 1 Dec. 2024
For conditions like obesity, neurodegenerative disease (like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases), and some psychiatric diseases (like depression), disentangling cause from effect is more challenging.
—Keren Landman, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disentangling
Verb
-
Olivia Rodrigo has unveiled her unraveling.—
Andrea Dresdale,
ABC News,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Having these properties taken away without recourse is effectively unraveling generations of effort.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Not as punishment, but to better know our playing grounds and appreciate the big and small things—like freeing wads of vegetation from an undercarriage—that turn a field into a stage.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
1 May 2026
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In Xbox Mode, the standard Windows UI doesn’t load at all, freeing up additional memory and other system resources for games.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
1 May 2026
Verb
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Aether enthusiasts contorted themselves in knots attempting to explain this null result while still saving the notion of the aether itself.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
7 May 2026
-
Patrick Kestler, a gang expert who has been following Jones and Gorman throughout their storied rap careers, analyzing their lyrics, saving their Instagram posts, and even searching through Gorman’s phone after he was arrested last year on suspicion of possessing ammunition as a felon in Stockton.—
Nate Gartrell,
Mercury News,
7 May 2026
Verb
-
Mosquitoes really do play favorites — and the reasons reveal a fascinating tangle of genetics, body chemistry and evolutionary tracking that scientists are still untangling.—
Ryan Brennan
May 1,
Sacbee.com,
1 May 2026
-
Caoodkdk Cable Organizer Instead of spending time untangling your chargers, use this organizer that will neatly store your cords and small devices in one place.—
Rylee Johnston,
Travel + Leisure,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The Ukrainian Armed Forces eventually pushed the Russians out, liberating the site in early April 2022.—
Benjamin Mack-Jackson,
The Orlando Sentinel,
30 Apr. 2026
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That audience members, by virtue of access to a camera, keyboard, and the Internet, can capture, compile, edit, frame, and package an event as news without any regard to journalistic ethics is liberating and constraining at the same time.—
Shepherd Mpofu,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The Fort Worth Fire Department was called to the scene to help with extricating four people from the vehicle, according to the statement.—
Lillie Davidson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
15 Mar. 2026
-
The alternating timelines force the writers to do a lot of strained connection-building that, around midseason, ceases to be effective; the makers of Scarpetta were very smart about joining the murders narratively, but much less smart about extricating themselves creatively.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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One compelling hypothesis is that dark matter particles in the dense central halo are interacting with and annihilating one another, releasing energy as gamma rays.—
Paul M. Sutter,
Scientific American,
6 May 2026
-
Valdez’s agency was in damage-control mode this winter, releasing a 20-minute video that focused primarily on the pitcher’s upbringing, painting him in a personable light.—
Levi Weaver,
New York Times,
6 May 2026
Verb
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He was twice awarded the commissioner’s unit citation — for saving the lives of multiple residents during a six-alarm fire in 1998, and for rescuing several people trapped in a bus with severe roof damage in 2013.—
Gayla Cawley,
Boston Herald,
2 May 2026
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What started out as a drug investigation resulted in Joliet police rescuing several hens, roosters and baby chicks from two men believed to have used some of the animals for fighting, authorities said.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
1 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Disentangling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disentangling. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
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