Tanglable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Able to become twisted, knotted, or matted together in a confused mass
2. Susceptible to forming knots or becoming interwoven in a disorderly way
3. Prone to becoming snarled or intricately entangled with itself or other things

Etymology: "Tangle" came into Middle English as "tangelen," a word of uncertain origin, probably borrowed from a Scandinavian source, and it originally meant to entangle or to involve someone in a difficulty. Its sense of a knotted, confused mass of threads came later, and that picture of material that snarls easily is what the suffix builds on. The suffix "-able" comes through Old French from Latin "-abilis," which meant "able to be" or "capable of being." English has long attached it to verbs to form adjectives like "readable" and "breakable." Adding it to "tangle" gives "tanglable," meaning capable of being tangled. The formation is regular and transparent, which is why it is easy to understand, though it is rarely used.

Synonyms: tangled

Antonyms: untanglable