entanglement
8 synonyms and 0 antonyms for entanglement, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — The state of being twisted together or caught up in something physical, or the tangled mass itself.
Synonyms
Everyday swaps
Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. noun
The state of being twisted together or caught up in something physical, or the tangled mass itself.
“Fishing gear entanglement kills thousands of whales each year.”
2. noun often euphemistic
A complicated or compromising involvement with someone or something, especially a romantic or sexual relationship that is difficult to get out of.
“He described the affair as an entanglement rather than a relationship.”
3. noun technical
In physics, a quantum effect in which two or more particles share a single combined state, so that measuring one instantly determines the corresponding property of the other however far apart they are.
“Quantum entanglement underpins the security of quantum key distribution.”
How to use entanglement
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
Etymology
From the verb 'entangle', formed from 'en-' (to put into) plus 'tangle', with the noun suffix '-ment'.
Full origin of entanglement →Frequently asked questions
What does 'entanglement' mean when people use it about a relationship?
It is a softening word for an affair or an ill-advised romantic involvement, chosen because it suggests something messy and unintended rather than a deliberate relationship. It became widely used online after a celebrity interview in 2020 and is now often deployed jokingly.
Does quantum entanglement let you send messages faster than light?
No. Measuring one particle instantly fixes the state of its partner, but the outcome of each measurement is random, so nothing usable is transmitted. To learn anything, the two parties must compare notes over an ordinary channel limited by the speed of light.
What is the difference between entanglement and superposition?
Superposition describes a single system being in a combination of states at once. Entanglement describes two or more systems whose states cannot be described independently of each other, so that the pair has a definite joint state even when neither has a definite individual one.