Synonyms for complicated
- adjective
Most common
Definitions
- adj. 1
Difficult or convoluted.
It seems this complicated situation will not blow over soon.
Related words
- Word family
- complicatedness
Choose the right word
The conception of a material object is usually complex, involving form, color, size, and other elements; a clock is a complicated mechanism; the Gordian knot was intricate; the twining serpents of the Laocoon are involved.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- difficult Explain to him the difficult situation you are in.
- complex The plants manufacture complex chemical compounds.
- intricate I can see some intricate patterns in the picture.
- convoluted The plot's so convoluted, I have no idea what's going on.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| complicated | steady | |
| difficult | steady | |
| complex | steady | |
| intricate | steady | |
| convoluted | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 6 letters
- knotty2
- 7 letters
- complex2, obscure2, tangled2
- 8 letters
- involved2, confused2, tortuous3
- 9 letters
- difficult3, elaborate3, intricate3, entangled3, perplexed2
- 10 letters
- convoluted4
- 11 letters
- problematic4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (knotty2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- compliqué
- Italiano
- complicato
- Español
- complicado
- Deutsch
- kompliziert
- Català
- complicat