complex

[ adjective, verb kuhm-pleks, kom-pleks; noun kom-pleks ]

/ adjective, verb kəmˈplɛks, ˈkɒm plɛks; noun ˈkɒm plɛks /

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adjective

composed of many interconnected parts; compound; composite: a complex highway system.

characterized by a very complicated or involved arrangement of parts, units, etc.: complex machinery.

so complicated or intricate as to be hard to understand or deal with: a complex problem.

Grammar.

(of a word) consisting of two parts, at least one of which is a bound form, as childish, which consists of the word child and the bound form -ish.
complex sentence.

Mathematics. pertaining to or using complex numbers: complex methods; complex vector space.

noun

an intricate or complicated association or assemblage of related things, parts, units, etc.: the entire complex of our educational system; an apartment complex.

Psychology. a system of interrelated, emotion-charged ideas, feelings, memories, and impulses that is usually repressed and that gives rise to abnormal or pathological behavior.

a fixed idea; an obsessive notion.

Mathematics.

an arbitrary set of elements of a group.
a collection of simplexes having specified properties.

Also called coordination compound. Chemistry. a compound in which independently existing molecules or ions of a nonmetal (complexing agent) form coordinate bonds with a metal atom or ion.Compare ligand(def 2).

Biochemistry. an entity composed of molecules in which the constituents maintain much of their chemical identity: receptor-hormone complex, enzyme-substrate complex.

verb (used with object)

Chemistry. to form a complex with.

verb (used without object)

Chemistry. to form a complex.

Nearby words

Origin of complex

1645–55; 1905–10 for def 7; (adj.) < Latin complexus, past participle of complectī, complectere to embrace, encompass, include, equivalent to complect- (see complect) + -tus past participle suffix; (noun) < Late Latin complexus totality, complex (Latin: inclusion, grasping, embrace), equivalent to complect(ere) + -tus suffix of v. action; reanalysis of the Latin v. as “to intertwine (completely)” has influenced sense of the adj.

SYNONYMS FOR complex

3 knotty, tangled, labyrinthine.

6 network, web, tangle, labyrinth.

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ANTONYMS FOR complex

2, 3 simple.

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Related forms

com·plex·ly, adverbcom·plex·ness, nouno·ver·com·plex, adjectivequa·si-com·plex, adjective

qua·si-com·plex·ly, adverbsu·per·com·plex, adjectiveun·com·plex, adjectiveun·com·plex·ly, adverbun·com·plex·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for complex

It was a complex task they were asked to do, and every cultural and experiential advantage would be required.
Why Did We Panic After 9/11 and Ignore All We Knew About Responding to Security Threats?|Deborah Pearlstein|December 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
KSM enters the complex through a “Sally Port,” a series of gates designed to allow just one vehicle in at a time.
9/11 Mastermind Is Afraid of the Ladies|Tim Mak|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We are a huge, complex, diverse country still offering freedom, opportunity and hope.
Dick Cheney vs. ‘Unbroken’|Mike Barnicle|December 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If Congress struggles to keep the lights on, how could it deal with issues as complex as police brutality?
Sharpton Recalls Civil Rights Struggle in DC March Against Police Violence|Ben Jacobs|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Medication can now be taken in a single pill rather than a complex cocktail of tablets.
The New Face of HIV Is Gay & Young|Adebisi Alimi|December 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So that the validity of a complex proposition is when it is a complex of truths.
The Teaching of Epictetus|Epictetus
Mark all of the simple sentences and all of the complex sentences.
Plain English|Marian Wharton
Complex the knots were, but his warped and palsied fingers deftly undid them as though long familiar with each turn and twist.
Darkness and Dawn|George Allan England
Few religions have been without these symbolic representations of complex characters.
The Grotesque in Church Art|T. Tindall Wildridge
They are not organized under the Constitution nor subject to its complex distribution of the powers of government.
Problems of Expansion|Whitelaw Reid

British Dictionary definitions for complex

complex

/ (ˈkɒmplɛks) /

adjective

made up of various interconnected parts; composite

(of thoughts, writing, etc) intricate or involved

grammar

(of a word) containing at least one bound form
(of a noun phrase) containing both a lexical noun and an embedded clause, as for example the italicized parts of the following sentence: I didn't know the man who served me
(of a sentence) formed by subordination of one clause to another

maths of or involving one or more complex numbers

noun

a whole made up of interconnected or related partsa building complex

psychoanal a group of emotional ideas or impulses that have been banished from the conscious mind but that continue to influence a person's behaviour

informal an obsession or excessive fearhe's got a complex about cats

Also called: coordination compound a chemical compound in which molecules, groups, or ions are attached to a central metal atom, esp a transition metal atom, by coordinate bonds

any chemical compound in which one molecule is linked to another by a coordinate bond

Derived Formscomplexly, adverbcomplexness, noun

Word Origin for complex

C17: from Latin complexus, from complectī to entwine, from com- together + plectere to braid

usage

Complex is sometimes wrongly used where complicated is meant. Complex is properly used to say only that something consists of several parts. It should not be used to say that, because something consists of many parts, it is difficult to understand or analyse

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for complex (1 of 2)

complex

adj.

1650s, "composed of parts," from French complexe "complicated, complex, intricate" (17c.), from Latin complexus "surrounding, encompassing," past participle of complecti "to encircle, embrace," in transferred use, "to hold fast, master, comprehend," from com- "with" (see com-) + plectere "to weave, braid, twine, entwine," from PIE *plek-to-, from root *plek- "to plait" (see ply (v.1)). The meaning "not easily analyzed" is first recorded 1715. Complex sentence is attested from 1881.

Word Origin and History for complex (1 of 2)

complex

1650s, "a whole comprised of parts," from complex (adj.). Psychological sense of "connected group of repressed ideas" was established by C.G. Jung, 1907.

Medicine definitions for complex

complex

[ kŏm′plĕks′ ]

n.

A group of related, often repressed memories, thoughts, and impulses that compel characteristic or habitual patterns of feelings, thought, and behavior.

The relatively stable combination of two or more ions or compounds into a larger structure without covalent binding.

A composite of chemical or immunological structures.

An entity made up of three or more interrelated components.

A group of individual structures known or believed to be anatomically, embryologically, or physiologically related.

The combination of factors, symptoms, or signs that forms a syndrome.

adj.

Consisting of interconnected or interwoven parts; composite.

Composed of two or more units.

Relating to a group of individual structures known or considered to be anatomically, embryologically, or physiologically related.

complex

adjective

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

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Origin of complex

Examples from the Web for complex

British Dictionary definitions for complex

complex

adjective

noun

Word Origin for complex

usage

Word Origin and History for complex (1 of 2)

complex

Word Origin and History for complex (1 of 2)

complex

Medicine definitions for complex

complex

n.

adj.