| Main Entry: | complex |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult to understand |
Synonyms: |
Byzantine, Daedalean, Gordian, abstruse, bewildering, circuitous, complicated, confused, convoluted, crabbed, cryptic, discursive, disordered, disturbing, enigmatic, entangled, excursive, hidden, impenetrable, inscrutable, interwoven, intricate, involved, jumbled, knotted, knotty, labyrinthine, mazy, meandering, mingled, mixed, muddled, obscure, paradoxical, perplexing, puzzling, rambling, recondite, round-about, sinuous, snarled, sophisticated, tangled, tortuous, undecipherable, unfathomable, winding |
| Notes: | something complex may be well-organized and logically constructed as well as subtle and intricate, while a thing that is complicated will have something irregular, perverse, asymmetrical in addition to fundamental intricacy; complex is more formal and technical (a problem in mathematics is complex) while something like personal life can be complicated |
Antonyms: |
apparent, clear, direct, discernible, easy, evident, obvious, plain |
| Main Entry: | complicated |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult, complex |
Synonyms: |
Byzantine, Daedalean, Gordian, abstruse, arduous, can of worms, convoluted, difficult, elaborate, entangled, fancy, gasser, hard, hi-tech, interlaced, intricate, involved, knotty, labyrinthine, mega factor, mixed, perplexing, problematic, puzzling, recondite, sophisticated, troublesome, various, wheels within wheels |
Antonyms: |
easy, facile, simple |
| Main Entry: | involved |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | complicated |
Synonyms: |
Byzantine, Gordian, complex, confusing, convoluted, difficult, elaborate, high-tech, intricate, knotty, labyrinthine, mazy, muddled, ramified, sophisticated, tangled, tortuous, winding |
Antonyms: |
easy, simple, uncomplicated |
| Main Entry: | knotty |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | troublesome |
Synonyms: |
Gordian, baffling, complex, complicated, difficult, effortful, elaborate, formidable, hard, intricate, involved, labyrinthine, mazy, mystifying, nodulous, perplexing, problematical, puzzling, ramified, reticular, rough, rugged, sophisticated, sticky*, terrible, thorny, tough, tricky, uphill |
Antonyms: |
simple, uncomplicated, untroublesome |