decouple

verb

de·​cou·​ple (ˌ)dē-ˈkə-pəl 

decoupled; decoupling; decouples

transitive verb

: to eliminate the interrelationship of : separate

Synonyms

• break up
• disassociate
• disconnect
• disjoin
• disjoint
• dissever
• dissociate
• disunite
• divide
• divorce
• part
• ramify
• resolve
• separate
• sever
• split
• sunder
• uncouple
• unlink
• unyoke

Examples of decouple in a Sentence

to have a fruitful discussion, we need to decouple fact from opinion

Recent Examples on the Web

For decades now, the most ardent critics of the weight-loss industry and of its associated doctors have been saying something similar: Healthy behaviors can and should be decoupled from the single-minded goal of making people smaller. —Daniel Engber, The Atlantic, 9 Dec. 2024

But Wednesday’s truce has decoupled the two battlefields. —Rania Abouzeid, The New Yorker, 27 Nov. 2024

And if the Trump administration takes even more radical steps to decouple the U.S. and Chinese economies, the economic and national security downsides will be even more pronounced. —Scott Kennedy, Foreign Affairs, 26 Nov. 2024

Minolta created modular cameras that could be decoupled, the optics tethered to the LCD body with a cord, like photographic nunchaku. —Brendan Nystedt, WIRED, 27 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1938, in the meaning defined above