unraveled

verb

past tense of unravel
1
as in frayed
to separate the various strands of it took us forever to unravel the jumbled mass of Christmas tree lights

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in solved
to find an answer for through reasoning unraveled the mystery

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 unraveled Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have unraveled some of the atmospheric secrets of a bizarre, blisteringly hot world that has the consistency of marshmallow. — Robert Lea, Space.com, 16 Oct. 2026 Rice said when Perera was released from the hospital, the working relationship unraveled as well as the romantic one. — Joe Rubin, Sacbee.com, 8 Oct. 2026 After his mother’s death in 1990, Cooper’s relationship with his father unraveled, and he was soon drawn to the music he’d been taught to avoid. — Steve Appleford, SPIN, 8 Oct. 2026 Over the past 25 or so years, this country has unraveled in a lot of ways. — Elisabeth Garber-Paul, Rolling Stone, 3 Oct. 2026 By then, Cecchi Gori’s business empire—which included the Fiorentina soccer club—had unraveled in spectacular fashion, ending in bankruptcy and convictions for financial crimes. — Mattia Ferraresi, Air Mail, 3 Oct. 2026 The Rams will need to tighten up the special teams that unraveled in Philadelphia a year ago and gave up field-position leaks that let the Broncos climb back into last week’s game. — Nate Atkins, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2026 The firm unraveled in 2025 after prosecutors accused its founder and chief financial officer of concealing hundreds of millions of dollars in financial problems from lenders and investors, a case bolstered by the CFO’s guilty plea. — Alex Volonte, The Conversation, 1 Oct. 2026 The ceasefire quickly unraveled, and the 60-day deadline passed last month with no breakthroughs. — Arkansas Online, 28 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unraveled
  1. frayed
  2. solved
  3. untwisted
  4. answered
  5. disentangled
  6. resolved
  7. smoothed
Verb
  • Francisco Luna, 45, the owner of an auto repair shop, said coexistence has been frayed.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 12 Oct. 2026
  • For two years, tension over the case has frayed allegiances in Dearborn.
    — Glenn Rice, Kansas City Star, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of frayed
Verb
  • When plans for a trip are disrupted, for example, ask whether the problem is within your control and can be solved.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Hospitality, retail and tech are recruiting people who’ve already solved the problem banks are trying to solve, just in a different building.
    — Paul Davis, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of solved
Verb
  • If the testicle is not untwisted within hours, it can be lost.
    — Dr. Jamin Brahmbhatt, CNN Money, 25 June 2026
  • Daily untwisted the beer bottle cap, poured it into his shoe, and took a healthy swig, standing up for dramatic effect.
    — Marina Watts, Entertainment Weekly, 3 June 2026
Definition of untwisted
Verb
  • When Cleveland trimmed the lead to 3-1 in the sixth inning, Tampa answered with a two-run homer by Junior Caminero in the seventh.
    — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Still, many challenging open questions must be answered before the Many Worlds interpretation can be accepted as our best explanation for the measurement problem.
    — Philipp Strasberg, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of answered
Verb
  • Pawlikowski’s mother and father, also named Zula and Wiktor, whose unmanageable love had kept them tangled and disentangled for decades, took their own lives in 1989, as the Cold War that had cast its chill upon their time was beginning to thaw.
    — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Systems have to be disentangled, employees moved, contracts rewritten, and corporate functions recreated.
    — Jim Osman, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of disentangled
Verb
  • States of uncertainty that cannot be resolved can be particularly inefficient.
    — Maia Szalavitz, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Some cases resulted in convictions, while others were dismissed or resolved through diversion.
    — Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of resolved
Verb
  • The ice has been smoothed, the lines are painted, and the teeth are … barely there.
    — OutKick, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Facilities that once smoothed a few weeks of timing now sometimes carry a portfolio for months, occasionally across an entire fundraising cycle.
    — Peter Doyle, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of smoothed

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unravel
unraveled
unraveling
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Cite this Entry

“Unraveled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unraveled. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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