1
as in to fray
to separate the various strands of
it took us forever to unravel the jumbled mass of Christmas tree lights
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to solve
to find an answer for through reasoning
unraveled the mystery
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unravel
This perception unraveled, however, once the court came to be seen as fully captured by Orbán.
—
David Pozen, The Atlantic, 26 Feb. 2026
Trade deals risk unraveling after the Supreme Court’s tariff decision.
—Editorial Board, Washington Post, 26 Feb. 2026
By letting go of expectations and putting his wholehearted trust in the world, Krasinski constantly finds himself in the right place at the right time as spectacular travel experiences unravel in front of him.
—Rachel Chang, Travel + Leisure, 26 Feb. 2026
But, to get there, Brontë enlists some of the ubiquitous tropes of her time—the foundling hero, for example—only to ruthlessly unravel them.
—Radhika Jones, New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for unravel
David Pozen, The Atlantic, 26 Feb. 2026
Trade deals risk unraveling after the Supreme Court’s tariff decision.
—Editorial Board, Washington Post, 26 Feb. 2026
By letting go of expectations and putting his wholehearted trust in the world, Krasinski constantly finds himself in the right place at the right time as spectacular travel experiences unravel in front of him.
—Rachel Chang, Travel + Leisure, 26 Feb. 2026
But, to get there, Brontë enlists some of the ubiquitous tropes of her time—the foundling hero, for example—only to ruthlessly unravel them.
—Radhika Jones, New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for unravel
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unravel
Verb
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Relations in the mobile home started to fray.—
Andrew Norman Wilson,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Feb. 2026
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Instead of shorter threads that can fray over time, this fabric is made of extra-long staple cotton sateen for an ultra-soft and durable feel.—
Nashia Baker,
Architectural Digest,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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More recently, other options have come forth to solve the sell-buy conundrum.—
Lew Sichelman,
Miami Herald,
26 Feb. 2026
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So this is not a problem that can be solved strictly through military action, because military action can’t deal with those other two factors.—
Hanna Rosin,
The Atlantic,
26 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Researchers at the Whitehead Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for example, developed an AI model to predict a protein’s destination within human cells based on its amino acid sequence, a finding that could help untangle the role of mis-localization in disease.—
Amanda Erickson,
STAT,
27 Feb. 2026
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They eventually were untangled, and the referees were convening at center ice when Tkachuk skated off the bench and toward the Red Wings penalty box to talk to Edvinsson.—
Ryan Canfield,
FOXNews.com,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Whether his case is resolved in the next few weeks or not, decisions on Barmore and Diggs are coming.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
26 Feb. 2026
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But these are situations that both the Raiders and Eagles need to resolve for their own reasons.—
Pat Leonard,
New York Daily News,
26 Feb. 2026
Verb
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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
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Embedded in a patriarchal family within an oppressive society, Mrie faces the challenge of disentangling herself from both.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The race to find what’s next Meta, Google and Samsung are all betting big on smart glasses that use AI to analyze and answer questions about a wearer’s surroundings.—
Lisa Eadicicco,
CNN Money,
2 Mar. 2026
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With Roope Hintz, Mikko Rantanen and Radek Faksa all out of the lineup again, the Stars needed some depth scoring, and Bastian answered with a timely goal.—
Lia Assimakopoulos,
Dallas Morning News,
1 Mar. 2026
Verb
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In a feat of precision physics, researchers from Cornell and Stanford Universities have filmed atoms twisting and untwisting in perfect sync, a choreography that unfolds in just a trillionth of a second.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
12 Nov. 2025
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In rare cases, a volvulus can partially resolve on its own if the twist or obstruction is not severe and the intestine untwists spontaneously.—
Sarah Jividen,
Health,
22 Sep. 2024
Verb
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How to unsnarl the emotions that play tug-of-war with our souls?—
Michael Schulman,
New Yorker,
15 Dec. 2025
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During the recent supply-chain crisis, XPO helped unsnarl bottlenecks for customers in several industries.—
Joann S. Lublin,
Time,
27 Nov. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Unravel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unravel. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.
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