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spaghetti

n. · v.
US //spəˈɡɛti// UK //spɐɡˈɛti// spaghet·ti
  1. 1 pasta (n.)
    A1 Beginner Cooking

    a type of pasta made in long, thin strings.

    a variety of pasta shaped into long, thin, cylindrical strands.

    Example

    We had spaghetti with tomato sauce and meatballs for dinner last night.

    Example

    The chef insisted on cooking the spaghetti al dente to ensure it maintained a firm texture when tossed with the seafood sauce.
  2. 2 tangled mess (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

    a messy or tangled collection of things, like wires or cables.

    a tangled or disorganized collection of physical objects, typically cables or wires, resembling pasta.

    Example

    There is a spaghetti of cables behind the television that needs to be organized.

    Example

    The technician spent hours untangling the spaghetti of multicoloured wires hidden behind the server rack.
  3. 3 confusing code (n.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Informal Computing

    computer code that is messy and hard to understand because it is not organized well.

    source code with a complex and tangled control structure, making it difficult to maintain or follow.

    Example

    The old software was full of spaghetti code that made it impossible to fix bugs.

    Example

    The legacy system was a nightmare to update because the original developers had relied on spaghetti code rather than modular design.

    Usage

    Often used in the compound phrase 'spaghetti code'.

    Teacher's tip

    This is a common term in software engineering to describe poorly written programs that 'jump' around too much.
    • spaghetti code
  4. 4 to tangle (v.)
    C2 Proficiency Informal

    to become twisted or tangled together.

    to become or cause to become tangled or knotted in a manner resembling pasta.

    Example

    The fishing lines started to spaghetti after the wind picked up.

    Example

    If you don't store these headphones properly, the thin wires will spaghetti inside your pocket.
Origin

The noun is borrowed from Italian spaghetti, the plural of spaghetto (“dish of spaghetti; (rare) strand of spaghetti”), from spago (“cord, string, twine; thread”) + -etto (diminutive suffix). Spago is derived from Latin spagus (“twine”), probably from Ancient Greek σφάκος (sphákos, “apple sage (Salvia pomifera)”), probably from Pre-Greek. The verb is derived from the noun.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Idioms1 entry
Related words

Last updated June 20, 2026