knotty
Americanadjective
-
a knotty piece of wood.
-
involved, intricate, or difficult.
a knotty problem.
- Synonyms:
- complicated, complex
adjective
-
(of wood, rope, etc) full of or characterized by knots
-
extremely difficult or intricate
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of knotty
First recorded in 1200–50, knotty is from the Middle English word cnotti. See knot 1, -y 1
Explanation
Whether it’s pine or problems, sometimes the word knotty can apply to both. Knotty can describe something that has a lot of knots, either literally or figuratively. The adjective knotty is a way to describe something that’s covered in knots. It can be used in a literal sense to refer to wood that is covered in hard, irregular knots — you’ve probably seen these circular, knobby imperfections that sometime appear on wood. The word can also be used figuratively to describe something that is intricate and difficult to solve, such as a knotty political problem involving two warring nations or a knotty legal issue involving complicated constitutional issues.
Vocabulary lists containing knotty
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Above all, Swanberg is interested in one strand of this knotty dilemma: how an ex turns from trash to treasure the minute someone else claims them from the dumpster.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
Jenée Desmond-Harris offers advice on untangling this knotty disagreement.
From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2026
His last three films before adapting a millennia-old poem were a historical epic about an evacuation operation, a time-travel thriller that’s knotty to the point of confusion and a biopic on a physicist.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
Hardcore fans of Nolan’s knotty, grand-scale films are at the apex of this market.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Beside him, Jigo nodded and rubbed his hip with his knotty old hands.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
Ultimately the vibe of “The Outrun” is closer to meandering travelogue than the knottier healing drama we were hoping for.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2024
Engineers say Copilot saves them hundreds of hours a month by handling tedious and repetitive tasks, affording them time to focus on knottier challenges.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 22, 2024
And this is the knottier grimness beneath the ever-present dread written into the 1996 mystery asking how these young women fell from collaboration, real girl power, to devouring each other.
From Salon ● Jan. 16, 2022
I think the issue is much knottier than as you present, but it is a fun parallel to play with and think about.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2021
But knottier points we knew not half so well, Deprived us soon of our paternal cell; And certain laws, by sufferers thought unjust.
From The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Volume 1 by George Gilfillan
This massive achievement solves one of the knottiest problems in biology, and it won the AI’s creators a $3-million Breakthrough Prize.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 15, 2022
Gordon’s characters tend to be tough on themselves, convinced that diligent thinking and rethinking can untangle the knottiest problems.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2020
Even through his knottiest lyrics, he’s been trying to convince us that the American Dream is a farce for more than half a century.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 18, 2020
The morning’s knottiest exhortation came from Ma Catalina Vázquez Pérez, 51, who had woken at 5am hoping Amlo could get her son and her son-in-law out of jail.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 20, 2018
After a long pause, Hermione voiced the knottiest question of all in a hesitant voice.
From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
