as in confusions
a state of mental uncertainty
my mind's been in a tangle ever since I learned some disturbing information about an online acquaintance
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in traps
to catch or hold as if in a net
was at last tangled in the web of lies that he had told to everyone
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in knots
to twist together into a usually confused mass
that darn cat tangled the yarn I was trying to knit with
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of tangles
Shomik Mukherjee, Mercury News, 9 Jan. 2026
In the clip, the actress jumped into a pool in a string bikini and demonstrated how to get pesky tangles out of one’s hair with her brand’s Glossing Detangler.
—Rachel Burchfield, InStyle, 31 Dec. 2025
The quick-wrap design prevents tangles, and the battery lasts impressively long.
—Francesca Krempa, Travel + Leisure, 11 Dec. 2025
With a story of secret cabals and a child born to rule, Dumont projects the nasty prejudices and bureaucratic rigors of local politics, the tangles of family allegiances, and the tender grunge of young lust into divine and diabolical clashes run from celestial and subterranean castles.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 5 Dec. 2025
For a story about a supernatural phenomenon that threatens to pull the entire world into a hellscape of bisexual lighting, omnipresent thunder, and endless tangles of oozing vines, Stranger Things returns for its final season feeling curiously small.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 27 Nov. 2025
Bendy and flexible to gently comb through hair without tugging, pulling, or roughing up hair with tension, this unfurls any tangles and knots painlessly, thanks to the flexible bristles.
—Brianna Peters, Vogue, 24 Nov. 2025
Amyloid forms sticky plaques, while tau forms tangles inside brain cells.
—Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 13 Nov. 2025
After spraying this before a braid takedown, my hair was visibly softer and easier to mange through tangles.
—Caché McClay, USA Today, 7 Nov. 2025
Bestreviews, Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2025
Noun
But the seven-member volunteer commission — long expected to take the reins from OPD’s federal overseers — still seems to be struggling to gain footing within Oakland’s complex bureaucratic tangles.
—Shomik Mukherjee, Mercury News, 9 Jan. 2026
In the clip, the actress jumped into a pool in a string bikini and demonstrated how to get pesky tangles out of one’s hair with her brand’s Glossing Detangler.
—Rachel Burchfield, InStyle, 31 Dec. 2025
The quick-wrap design prevents tangles, and the battery lasts impressively long.
—Francesca Krempa, Travel + Leisure, 11 Dec. 2025
With a story of secret cabals and a child born to rule, Dumont projects the nasty prejudices and bureaucratic rigors of local politics, the tangles of family allegiances, and the tender grunge of young lust into divine and diabolical clashes run from celestial and subterranean castles.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 5 Dec. 2025
For a story about a supernatural phenomenon that threatens to pull the entire world into a hellscape of bisexual lighting, omnipresent thunder, and endless tangles of oozing vines, Stranger Things returns for its final season feeling curiously small.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 27 Nov. 2025
Bendy and flexible to gently comb through hair without tugging, pulling, or roughing up hair with tension, this unfurls any tangles and knots painlessly, thanks to the flexible bristles.
—Brianna Peters, Vogue, 24 Nov. 2025
Amyloid forms sticky plaques, while tau forms tangles inside brain cells.
—Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 13 Nov. 2025
After spraying this before a braid takedown, my hair was visibly softer and easier to mange through tangles.
—Caché McClay, USA Today, 7 Nov. 2025
Verb
Wire pin or slicker brushes work best for dogs with long hair that tangles easily.
—Bestreviews, Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tangles
Noun
-
Before the Lost Weekend, John and Yoko had their New York Year — turning their personal confusions into beautifully vivid moments of rage and pain.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
From trad wives to spin classes to caregiving, Smithuijsen reveals how late stage capitalism strips women of agency and traps them in endless cycles of empty consumption and thankless labor.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 Jan. 2026
-
The cuffed hem also traps in heat and gives the pants a jogger appearance that looks good with sandals, sneakers, and boots.—
Nicol Natale,
PEOPLE,
31 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
No matter how many knots a lawyer ties themselves in to get there, legality is not legitimacy.—
Jon Duffy,
Mercury News,
29 Nov. 2025
-
Stories like these usually lurch from one contrivance and complication to the next, but Chad Powers knots itself into a genuinely thorny conflict by the finale.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Barresi and Cuellar hold each other up with palpable tenderness, each one crafting a long, poignant arc from innocence through the fogs and thorns of experience.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
21 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tangles.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tangles. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
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