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
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Recent Examples of unraveled
Yet, the season unraveled in 2025, due largely to injuries.
—
Nicki Jhabvala, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
But their plans to get back home have completely unraveled.
—Heath Kalb, CBS News, 6 Jan. 2026
But the frustrations, injuries and off-court noise eventually caught up, and the partnership unraveled quicker than anyone expected.
—C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 5 Jan. 2026
But that version quickly unraveled as families described begging police to go into the building and 911 calls emerged from students pleading for help.
—Jim Vertuno, Los Angeles Times, 3 Jan. 2026
But the more dire accusations of children buried in secret graves ultimately unraveled.
—David Frum, The Atlantic, 27 Dec. 2025
Kevin O’Reilly of Mooresville slowly unraveled a grocery bag and added another poinsettia to the mix on Friday.
—Briah Lumpkins, Charlotte Observer, 19 Dec. 2025
After her lies unraveled, Jennifer hired three hitmen to kill her parents in 2010.
—Jessica Sager, PEOPLE, 9 Nov. 2025
Gavin argues that as the world unraveled during the 2008 financial crisis, Bernanke drew on his understanding of economic history to grasp the scope of the challenge, recognize the importance of global coordination and embrace out-of-the-box thinking.
—John T. Shaw, Twin Cities, 5 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unraveled
Verb
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In the fallout, the close relationship between Perez and Albritton frayed.—
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The pants feature slightly frayed, cuffed hems with an inseam that’s suitable for shorter frames, plus they’re made from stretchy denim for all-day comfort.—
Verb
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So much of filmmaking really is problem solving, and problems solved together.—
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Kroenke is the owner who solved the Rubik’s Cube that once seemed impossible.—
Verb
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Emails sent to him and to ICE media were not answered.—
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The worker who answered the call was polite, friendly and efficient.—
Verb
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The filing underscores the administration’s position that immigration enforcement and foreign policy decisions cannot be disentangled from national security concerns and that all of those are solely under the federal government’s purview.—
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No Spotify or Netflix exists for literature, where (other than with some exceptions, such as for vinyl collectors) the medium and the message are more easily disentangled, but the codex has endured for two millennia whereas the CD and the DVD lasted barely two decades.—
Verb
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Trauma teams use time stamps to log when an interventional need has been reported and when it is resolved using in-district and/or community resources.—
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People are also pointing out a few plot points that aren’t resolved.—
Verb
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As a result, the structure gradually collapsed and was smoothed to become almost flat by water currents.—
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Alas, these brands already did the heavy lifting, delivering formulas that immediately smoothed and over time improved the delicate skin's texture.—
Cite this Entry
“Unraveled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unraveled. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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