Twisted, messy masses of something like hair, string, or branches that are difficult to separate or understand.
From Middle English 'tangle,' possibly from Scandinavian origins (Old Norse 'thöngull' meaning seaweed). The word originally described actual physical knots before extending to mean confused situations.
Ocean kelp and seaweed naturally tangle in massive underwater knots, which is probably why Scandinavian sailors adopted this word—they dealt with these tangles constantly when fishing and sailing.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.