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PlainSpell

tangle

tan·gle/ˈteɪ̯ŋɡəl/verb, noun

tangle is spelled T-A-N-G-L-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables (tan·gle). It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,367th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, tangle means “To mix together or intertwine” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in tangle?

Letters6: T-A-N-G-L-E
Syllables2: tan·gle
In writing1.3 times per million words; the 25,367th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is tangle?

Tangle appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,367th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce tangle?

  • /ˈtæŋ.ɡəl/
  • [ˈtæŋ.ɡəl] ~ [ˈtæŋ.ɡl̩]
  • US /ˈteɪ̯ŋɡəl/

Tangle has 2 syllables, split tan·gle in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-tangle.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with tangle?

4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tangle from its last stressed vowel (/eɪŋɡəl/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of tangle

  • tangles present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • tangling participle, present
  • tangled participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does tangle mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To mix together or intertwine.

  2. 2

    To become mixed together or intertwined.

    Her hair was tangled from a day in the wind.

  3. 3

    To enter into an argument, conflict, dispute, or fight.

    Don't tangle with someone three times your size.

  4. 4

    To catch and hold.

noun

  1. 1

    A tangled twisted mass.

  2. 2

    A complicated or confused state or condition.

    I tried to sort through this tangle and got nowhere.

  3. 3

    An argument, conflict, dispute, or fight.

  4. 4

    A region of the projection of a knot such that the knot crosses its perimeter exactly four times.

  5. 5

    A paired helical fragment of tau protein found in a nerve cell and associated with Alzheimer's disease.

  6. 6

    A form of art which consists of sections filled with repetitive patterns.

  7. 7

    Any large type of seaweed, especially a species of Laminaria.

  8. 8

    An instrument consisting essentially of an iron bar to which are attached swabs, or bundles of frayed rope, or other similar substances, used to capture starfishes, sea urchins, and other similar creatures living at the bottom of the sea.

  9. 9

    ScotlandAny long hanging thing, even a lanky person.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Tangle in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchemmêler, enchevêtrer, compliquer (to mix together or intertwine), s'emmêler, s'enchevêtrer (to become mixed together or intertwined), imbroglio (tangled twisted mass)
Germanverwirren, verfitzen, verfilzen (to mix together or intertwine), zerzausen, sich verheddern (to become mixed together or intertwined), Wirrwarr (tangled twisted mass)
Portugueseemaranhar, misturar (to mix together or intertwine), enrolar-se, embaraçar (to become mixed together or intertwined), emaranhado (tangled twisted mass), envolver (to be forced into some kind of situation)
Spanishenmarañar (to mix together or intertwine), enmarañarse (to become mixed together or intertwined), maraña (tangled twisted mass)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does tangle come from?

From Middle English tanglen, probably of North Germanic origin, compare Swedish taggla (“to disorder”), Old Norse þǫngull, þang (“tangle; seaweed”), see Etymology 2 below.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after tangle