How to Use unravel in a Sentence

unravel

verb
  • Their plans unraveled when she lost her job.
  • I feel like my life is unraveling.
  • His frequent absences from home caused his marriage to unravel.
  • Scientists are still unraveling the secrets of DNA.
  • What took years to build can unravel in months.
    — Brendan Keegan, Rolling Stone, 3 Apr. 2026
  • Burmese pythons have unraveled food webs for decades.
    — Sofia Baltodano, Miami Herald, 17 Feb. 2026
  • And that’s where things start to unravel.
    — Shelby Stewart, Essence, 12 May 2026
  • The game unraveled in the eighth.
    — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2026
  • The world rarely gives Black men space to unravel.
    — Essence, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Khan’s life unravelled in the course of only a few hours.
    — David D. Kirkpatrick, New Yorker, 5 Oct. 2025
  • But there were pitfalls, some of which will take years to unravel.
    — New York Times, 25 May 2021
  • From there, things unraveled fast.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 31 Jan. 2026
  • Some people think this could take years, not months to unravel.
    — NBC News, 17 Oct. 2021
  • But, over the course of the past five months, the group has begun to unravel.
    — David Gilbert, WIRED, 14 Dec. 2023
  • Trump has claimed that his agenda would unravel if the high court rules against him.
    — Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 16 Jan. 2026
  • But as more details emerged, a plot unraveled.
    — Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 21 Jan. 2026
  • There was a mystery to be unraveled.
    — Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 16 Jan. 2026
  • Younès sets out to unravel the mystery of what has happened to his friend.
    — Marta Balaga, Variety, 2 Aug. 2024
  • This sets off a chain of events that unravels secrets about his wife's past, as well as his own.
    — Billie Melissa, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Sep. 2025
  • Toward the end of part one, there are a few plot twists that begin to unravel.
    — Samantha Olson, Seventeen, 11 Feb. 2023
  • Foo seeks to unravel her abuse from the parts of herself that are of her own making.
    — Alia E. Dastagir, USA TODAY, 24 Feb. 2022
  • And that meant unraveling the rhymes and coming up with new ones.
    — Barbra Streisand, Vulture, 7 Nov. 2023
  • But the match unraveled for Bay in the 65th minute.
    — Harold Gutmann, Mercury News, 24 May 2026
  • Now that the deal has unraveled, eyes are also on the future.
    — Footwear News, 22 May 2026
  • Make four slices, place each slice on a cookie, and then unravel the paper.
    — Zoe Denenberg, Southern Living, 21 May 2021
  • With their wives away for a spell, the husbands swiftly unraveled at home.
    — Paula Mejía, The Atlantic, 2 Nov. 2025
  • The horn blows, and both teams start attempting to unravel the ropes.
    — Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 7 July 2022
  • But then the ball hit his bare paw, and everything unraveled.
    — Matt Reigle Outkick, FOXNews.com, 8 May 2026
  • That progress unraveled in the first half of 2025.
    — Marie Poteriaieva, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
  • Of course, the cease-fire remains fragile, and the deal could still unravel.
    — Eric Cortellessa, Time, 23 Oct. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unravel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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