Synonym Chooser

How does the verb untangle differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of untangle are disembarrass, disencumber, disentangle, and extricate. While all these words mean "to free from what binds or holds back," disentangle and untangle suggest painstaking separation of a thing from other things.

disentangling fact from fiction
untangle a web of deceit

When might disembarrass be a better fit than untangle?

The meanings of disembarrass and untangle largely overlap; however, disembarrass suggests a release from something that impedes or hinders.

disembarrassed herself of her advisers

When can disencumber be used instead of untangle?

The synonyms disencumber and untangle are sometimes interchangeable, but disencumber implies a release from something that clogs or weighs down.

an article disencumbered of jargon

When is it sensible to use extricate instead of untangle?

The words extricate and untangle are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, extricate implies the use of care or ingenuity in freeing from a difficult position or situation.

extricated himself from financial difficulties

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of untangle Each salmon must be untangled from the net one by one. Andrew Watman, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025 For Glessner Lee, the puzzle of untangling the truth about violent deaths proved irresistible. Katie Hafner, Scientific American, 10 Sep. 2025 While more research is needed to untangle exactly how exercise interacts with the microbiome, this study provides evidence that training intensity itself plays a role. New Atlas, 25 Aug. 2025 Many modern and contemporary writers are drawn to the villanelle as a way to circle around their subject matter, exploring obsession, enchantment, brooding, or the slow work of untangling a difficult emotion. The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 19 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for untangle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for untangle
Verb
  • The 2025 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to a trio of scientists – two of them American and one Japanese – for unraveling how the immune system protects us from thousands of different microbes trying to invade our bodies.
    Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2025
  • The Oscar-winning actress stars as Grace, a mother living in Montana who begins to show signs of postpartum psychosis, her mental distress unraveling her relationship with Jackson (Robert Pattinson).
    Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 6 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Claude can’t disentangle her years-ago affair with Mathias from feelings of self-recrimination and guilt, and seesaws between anger and seduction.
    Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2025
  • The Justice Department has disavowed its role in his indictment, which led to a four-month stay in a minimum-security prison, but Navarro argued the department cannot disentangle itself from the charge that led to his imprisonment.
    Peter Aitken, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • This frees up invaluable human time to shape creative ideas and make strategic decisions on where audiences are most likely to engage.
    Derya Matras, Fortune, 4 Oct. 2025
  • Addressing my trauma really is freeing.
    Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 4 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Blood is always poised and ready to clot, because the body sees this as a life-saving mechanism.
    Bryant Stamford, Louisville Courier Journal, 2 Oct. 2025
  • Is intuitive budgeting effective for saving money?
    Andreina Rodriguez, CNBC, 1 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • He was extricated from his car and flown to Froedtert Hospital by Flight for Life.
    Claudia Levens, jsonline.com, 4 Oct. 2025
  • Sam, Jay and the ghosts attempt to extricate Jay from his deal with Elias Woodstone (Matt Walsh), the devil.
    Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 1 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Uranus retrograde in your sign on the 6th may cause some unexpected twists, but these changes are meant to liberate you from old ways of thinking and being.
    Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 Oct. 2025
  • The film opens in an immigration detention camp, as a band of left-wing political militants known as the French 75 infiltrate the facility to liberate the detained, and detain the military overseers.
    Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 26 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • One important caveat is, new JAL Mileage Bank members must wait seven days before redeeming miles.
    Meghan Hunter, CNBC, 1 Oct. 2025
  • That seems like quite a serious undertaking for a half-hour comedy about a disgraced former college football player who sets off to redeem himself by catfishing his way into becoming the quarterback for an underdog team in south Georgia.
    Katie Campione, Deadline, 30 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Hull says that some effective safety tweaks to existing chatbots would be relatively simple — they could be programmed to nudge a user to disengage during late-night hours, for instance.
    Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 1 Oct. 2025
  • Those could show up as working too much, playing too many video games, shutting down, disengaging from their partners.
    CNN Money, CNN Money, 25 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Untangle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/untangle. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.

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