To untangle means to separate things that have become twisted, knotted, or confused with each other. When your earbuds come out of your backpack in a hopeless snarl, you sit down and carefully untangle them, pulling each loop free until the cords lie straight again. When long hair gets full of knots after a windy day, you gently untangle it with a brush or comb.

The word also describes clearing up confusion or solving complicated problems. A detective might need to untangle the facts of a case to figure out what really happened. When two friends have a misunderstanding, they might sit down together to untangle the confusion and figure out where things went wrong. A teacher might help students untangle a confusing math problem by breaking it into smaller, clearer steps.

The opposite of untangle is tangle, which means to twist or knot things together. Untangling usually requires patience and care. Yanking on tangled string or rushing through a confusing situation can make things worse. The steady work of untangling something, whether it's a physical knot or a complicated problem, shows that some challenges get solved through calm persistence rather than force.