disentangling

verb

present participle of disentangle
1
as in unraveling
to separate the various strands of it took forever to disentangle the knot

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 Cutting Iran off completely from the UAE could deal a serious blow to the Islamic Republic’s economy — but experts say disentangling the pair’s commercial ties could prove difficult. — semafor.com, 20 Aug. 2026 New characters and backstory details are dropped in before existing loose ends are tied up, resulting in unclear motivations and convoluted layers of subplot that, ultimately, do not prove relevant enough to have been worth disentangling. — Jared Kaufman, Twin Cities, 9 Aug. 2026 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 Embedded in a patriarchal family within an oppressive society, Mrie faces the challenge of disentangling herself from both. — Los Angeles Times, 24 Feb. 2026 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disentangling
  1. unraveling
  2. freeing
  3. saving
  4. untangling
  5. liberating
  6. extricating
  7. releasing
  8. rescuing
Verb
  • The seven-minute video, sent in early May 2021, offered a step-by-step guide for carrying out modern warfare in a country where everything seemed to be unraveling.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 21 Oct. 2026
  • The familiar imperial arc—expansion, overreach, strain, unraveling—once played out across a century or even a millennium.
    — NIALL FERGUSON, Foreign Affairs, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of unraveling
Verb
  • Lanterns works so well in part because it was conceived as a standalone complete story, albeit one with ramifications for future DCU projects, thereby freeing up the writers to create something truly unique, with no forced, awkward tie-ins.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Balenciaga was best known for revolutionizing a new silhouette for women, creating something more freeing that would allow women of the day to wear his designs sans-corset.
    — Amina Ayoud, Footwear News, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of freeing
Verb
  • Mackeeper present themselves as scraggly anti-heroes, saving music one banger at a time.
    — Samuel Hyland, Pitchfork, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Crafted from durable stainless steel, these containers are space-saving, leakproof, and, most impressively, completely microwave-safe.
    — Editors of Bon Appétit, Bon Appetit Magazine, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of saving
Verb
  • The chemistry prize recognized two scientists for untangling mysterious mirror images in molecules, a discovery that has been used to develop countless drugs.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Drop it onto its magnetic base station when you're done playing, and never worry about untangling dead wires again.
    — Juhi Wadia, PC Magazine, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of untangling
Verb
  • This action would have triggered a kilonova while also liberating a lot of material, stuff that would take its time falling onto the black hole and fueling longer jets.
    — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Instead, the coalition has identified its primary objective as dismantling the system of Velayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist) and liberating the country from its oppression.
    — Benjamin Weinthal, FOXNews.com, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of liberating
Verb
  • The vehicle ended up in a driveway where an off-duty firefighter stopped to help, extricating Orowson from the Honda, according to state police.
    — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Not that extricating supply chains from China is sufficient in today’s nativist political climate.
    — Charlie Campbell, Time, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of extricating
Verb
  • Colom’s campaign told the Washington Examiner that the Democratic nominee had no part in commissioning, funding, conducting, or releasing the Wedgewood survey and that the campaign only referenced it as a public poll.
    — Hailey Bullis, The Washington Examiner, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Democrats used the tools available to force votes that GOP leadership tried to avoid — on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files and halting the Iran war.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of releasing
Verb
  • Two California State Parks officers are being praised for rescuing a woman trapped inside a burning, overturned car along Highway 70 in Butte County.
    — Brady Halbleib, CBS News, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The presence of other active alligators in the water complicated any chance of rescuing Hamilton, whose body was recovered around two hours later, Winter Garden Fire Chief Jose Gainza told FOX35.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of rescuing

Browse Nearby Words

disentangles
disentangling
disenthrall
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Cite this Entry

“Disentangling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disentangling. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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