English Explanatory Dictionary

complicate

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To make complex; to modify so as to make something intricate or difficult.
  2. To involve in a convoluted matter.
  3. To coexist with (another disease) creating a complication.
adj
  1. Intertwined.
  2. Complex, complicated.

Pronunciation

/ˈkɑmplɪkeɪt/ /ˈkɒmplɪkeɪt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-complicate.wav /ˈkɒmplɪkət/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-complicate2.wav

Word forms

complicate complicates complicating complicated more complicate most complicate

Etymology

First attested in the early 17ᵗʰ century; borrowed from Latin complicātus, perfect passive participle of complicō (“to fold together”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from con- (“together”) + plicō (“to fold, weave, knit”); see plaid, and compare complex. See also Middle English complicate (“involved”).

Synonyms

complex complexify complicate complify confuscate desimplify elaborate jazz make a meal of perplex intricate entangle embroil involve mix up mire

Antonyms

decomplexify simplify uncomplicate

Related words

complication explicate implicate complex entangle entrap twist complexity

Derived words

complicative complicator decomplicate overcomplicate recomplicate simplicate uncomplicate complicate fever complicateness complicately
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