Detangleable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Able to be freed from a tangled or knotted state through combing, brushing, or other means
2. Possible to straighten out or separate when twisted, matted, or intertwined together
3. Capable of being worked through and made smooth or orderly when in a snarled or confused condition

Etymology: A tangle is a knot of things that have become snarled together, and "detangle" reverses that by taking the knot apart. The prefix "de-" comes from Latin "de", which carried senses of removal or reversal, so "detangle" literally means to undo a tangle. Adding the suffix "-able" turns it into an adjective meaning "capable of being detangled." That suffix descends from Latin "-abilis", which means "able to be" and was borrowed into English through Old French. The result is a regular formation built from familiar parts, which is why it is easy to read even though it is not a long-established dictionary word. Hair-care products and tools are its most common setting, where a hair type or fabric is described as easy or hard to detangle.

Synonyms: disentangleable