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tangly

tangly

1 5.1
Full of knots that are hard to undo, like in hair or yarn
  • adjective
  • /ˈtæŋɡli/
translation icon : enredado
  • This kind of seaweed tangly thing is a form of love bombing that we don't always recognize.

What I'm going to say is that I love the fact that this is way less tangly than the other long and straight hair, which I find very surprising.

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Examples

  • It was so tangly, long, and thick; there had never seemed any point.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • What I'm going to say is that I love the fact that this is way less tangly than the other long and straight hair, which I find very surprising.

  • This kind of seaweed tangly thing is a form of love bombing that we don't always recognize.

  • Her long, tangly hair often gets caught on her coat when she puts it on.

  • I struggled to untangle the tangly strings of Christmas lights before hanging them up.

  • The tangly vines in the garden kept spreading all over the flowerbeds.

Synonyms

knotty
vstangly
3 7.0

Full of hard lumps and tangles, for example in wood or hair

is focused on forming knots or twists easily rather than fixed lumps
snarly
vstangly
1 6.8

Tangled and full of knots like hair or thread

is a general word for anything that easily forms knots
snarled
vstangly
5.7

Tangled into messy knots that are hard to separate

is broader used for anything that tends to form knots or twists
knotted
vstangly
3.9

Having rough, twisted bumps on wood or hands

is more about forming knots or twists easily than rough look

Antonyms

256 1.0

A surface that is even and not rough

3.4

Free of knots and twists and easy to separate or understand

How Tangled

matted
1 5.3
knotted
1.9
tangly
1 5.1
untangled
3.4

Surface Forms

tangly positive
tanglier comparative
tangliest superlative

Morphology

tangly = tangle (transparent) = tangle + y

The adjective is formed by adding '-y' to 'tangle', meaning 'full of or characterized by tangles', which is straightforward for learners.

Etymology

The word tangly comes from the simple word tangle, which means 'to twist together', and the ending -y means 'full of'. So something tangly is 'full of twists' or knots, which is why hair, yarn, or bushes can be hard to comb or move through.