unraveling

verb

present participle of unravel
1
as in fraying
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 solving
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 unraveling Latvia’s Ostapenko is playing with less pressure, but is just as prone to unraveling on court as Sabalenka has been of late. — Ava Wallace, New York Times, 2 July 2026 The deal that built the modern internet is quietly unraveling, and most business leaders have not noticed yet. — Sandy Carter, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026 The center was designed as a hub for change, but as that change is debated and celebrated, the retail fabric that longtime residents have relied on is quietly unraveling. — Yunus Emre Tozal, Chicago Tribune, 25 June 2026 To most onlookers, the contradictions may seem like confusion, bad faith or evidence that the agreement is already unraveling. — Monica Duffy Toft, The Conversation, 25 June 2026 Local officials in the El Paso suburb of Socorro also announced that plans for their own facility were unraveling. — Dan Raby, CBS News, 24 June 2026 Plans also are unraveling in Social Circle, Georgia, and the El Paso suburb of Socorro, local officials said. — ABC News, 23 June 2026 In one of his rougher outings of the season, Meyer showed his ability to steady himself in the middle and prevent a game from unraveling, the kind of adversity every starting pitcher is guaranteed to face at some point. — Tyler Carmona, Miami Herald, 21 June 2026 Leave Your Mess at Home by Tolani Akinola Estranged eldest sister Sola Longe returns home to Chicago in secret after her public downfall, just as each of her siblings is quietly unraveling in their own way. — Kait Hanson, Southern Living, 19 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unraveling
  1. fraying
  2. solving
  3. disentangling
  4. answering
  5. untwisting
  6. resolving
  7. undoing
  8. untangling
Verb
  • Some business executives said requests for visas applied for in the UAE to Saudi Arabia were rejected earlier this year, in another sign of fraying ties, the Financial Times reported.
    — Matthew Martin, semafor.com, 9 July 2026
  • The band itself was fraying, with Stone recording much of the murky, druggy album in the attic of his Bel Air mansion.
    — Al Shipley, SPIN, 7 July 2026
Definition of fraying
Verb
  • Powar explained that these systems are increasingly capable of working independently for extended periods, testing hypotheses, solving problems, and adapting their approach without constant human input.
    — Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 10 July 2026
  • The problem Databento is solving has bothered anyone who has ever tried to get institutional-grade market data.
    — Lily Mae Lazarus, Fortune, 9 July 2026
Definition of solving
Verb
  • 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, Los Angeles Times, 24 Feb. 2026
Definition of disentangling
Verb
  • Kayyalha said magnetic topological insulators offer a flexible platform for answering fundamental questions about quantum transport and topology.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 10 July 2026
  • Naturally, Cashman spoke in generalities when answering some of those questions.
    — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 10 July 2026
Definition of answering
Verb
  • In a feat of precision physics, researchers from Cornell and Stanford Universities have filmed atoms twisting and untwisting in perfect sync, a choreography that unfolds in just a trillionth of a second.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 12 Nov. 2025
Definition of untwisting
Verb
  • While other Gulf states like Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been mentioned, the UAE appears the most likely buyer, potentially altering the region's air defense landscape and resolving Turkey's long-standing S-400 dispute.
    — Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
  • All six LLMs follow common patterns when resolving the repository or skill name in a prompt with its official name in a repository or skill repository.
    — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 8 July 2026
Definition of resolving
Verb
  • The injunction insisted that Nexstar and Tegna assets remain distinct, freezing and undoing efforts to combine the companies that had already begun.
    — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 8 July 2026
  • Redesigning workflows, confronting misaligned incentives, or undoing bureaucratic creep is far harder than telling people to toughen up.
    — Frantz M. Berthaud, STAT, 7 July 2026
Definition of undoing
Verb
  • So when a diabetic patient develops gastroparesis, untangling whether the drug or the disease is responsible is genuinely difficult.
    — Ryan Brennan, Charlotte Observer, 13 June 2026
  • Navy excels at untangling human emotions and picking through them without being didactic or moralistic.
    — Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 10 June 2026
Definition of untangling

Browse Nearby Words

unraveled
unraveling
unravels
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Cite this Entry

“Unraveling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unraveling. Accessed 12 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of unraveling for Spanish Speakers

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