1
as in unraveling
to separate the various strands of
it took forever to disentangle the knot
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
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 disentangling
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
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
-
By the time Redford, Keaton, Beatty and the others were coming of age as actors, the old studio scaffolding was already coming apart, with the contract system unraveling and the great moguls who once ruled the town with an iron fist fading from the scene.—
Benjamin Svetkey,
HollywoodReporter,
22 Oct. 2025
-
Though the audience is privy to Laz’s motivations, outsiders, including Jenna, Seth, and his ex-wife Bella (Karla Crome), are able to see only a man overcome by grief and loss who is quickly unraveling.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Follow what feels fun and freeing, not forced.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
28 Oct. 2025
-
Thuram drags Tchouameni into the space on the left and Koopmeiners runs towards Cambiaso, freeing up Yildiz to receive in space.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Officers performed life-saving measures on Green before he was pronounced dead on location, Hoskin said.—
Perry Vandell,
AZCentral.com,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Tyrod Taylor’s not saving the season anymore than Quinn Ewers is saving the show in Miami.—
Jeff Howe,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Hanging ornaments with care can be one of the highlights of the holiday season, but untangling wads of string lights is far less enjoyable.—
Maggie Horton,
PEOPLE,
22 Oct. 2025
-
The album was heralded as Lorde’s most personal project to date, with the singer examining and untangling gender roles, body image issues and her sexuality.—
Lyndsey Havens,
Billboard,
6 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Detouring into satire would give that notion some pause and would give my writing some wings, liberating me from self-consciousness and untethering me from reality.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
15 Oct. 2025
-
But liberating humans from work would also mean liberating them from their paychecks.—
Billy Perrigo,
Time,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Concentrate on rescuing the remaining green leaves and getting the plant healthy.—
Leanne Potts,
Better Homes & Gardens,
21 Oct. 2025
-
Whether the Monster is part of Ana’s imagination or not, the scene carries a fragile, haunting power, suggesting that the only person capable of rescuing Ana from the pervasive mystery and misery of her home life belongs to the supernatural, outside the punishing borders of Franco’s Spain.—
Rory Doherty,
Vulture,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The company plans to continue releasing updates as testing progresses, pushing its axial flux architecture toward the next benchmark in electric propulsion.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Oct. 2025
-
Other events included releasing chickens into a crowd that scrambled to catch them, with winners taking them home, according to one report about the town’s history.—
Chris Kenning,
USA Today,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Certain redemptions are only worth less than one cent per point, which means the best value is redeeming for travel.—
Evan Zimmer,
CNBC,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Although the murderers are often characters with redeeming qualities, Nolan Hurst (David Cross) is more sympathetic than most, and his killing of toy store manager/part-time extortionist Patrick Palmer (Drew Seltzer) is an unpremeditated act of desperation, not the settling of a score.—
Sophie Brookover,
Vulture,
17 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Disentangling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disentangling. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share