untangle
/ʌnˈtæŋ.ɡəl/verb
untangle is spelled U-N-T-A-N-G-L-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 50,539th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, untangle means “To remove tangles or knots from” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in untangle?
| Letters | 8: U-N-T-A-N-G-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 50,539th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is untangle?
Untangle appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 50,539th 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 untangle?
- US /ʌnˈtæŋ.ɡəl/
Untangle has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-untangle.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of untangle
- untangles present, singular, he/she/it
- untangling participle, present
- untangled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does untangle mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To remove tangles or knots from.
With gentle combing, untangle your hair.
- 2
To remove confusion or mystery from.
It took a while, but he finally untangled the problem.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Untangle in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to remove tangles or knots – see also disentangle:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | dénatter, dénouer, débrouiller, démêler |
| German | entwirren |
| Portuguese | desembaraçar |
| Spanish | desenredar, desenmarañar |
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 untangle come from?
From un- + tangle.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).