complicate
[ verb kom-pli-keyt; adjective kom-pli-kit ]
/ verb ˈkɒm plɪˌkeɪt; adjective ˈkɒm plɪ kɪt /
verb (used with object), com·pli·cat·ed, com·pli·cat·ing.
to make complex, intricate, involved, or difficult: His recovery from the operation was complicated by an allergic reaction.
adjective
complex; involved.
Entomology. folded longitudinally one or more times, as the wings of certain insects.
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RELATED WORDS
convolute, perplex, upset, muddle, involve, impede, obscure, bedevil, confound, clog, interweave, handicap, entangle, elaborate, embroil, snafu, snag, twist, fold, combine
Nearby words
- compliance,
- compliance officer,
- compliancy,
- compliant,
- complicacy,
- complicated,
- complication,
- complice,
- complicit,
- complicity
Origin of complicate
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for complicate
complicate
verb (ˈkɒmplɪˌkeɪt)
to make or become complex
adjective (ˈkɒmplɪkɪt)
biology folded on itselfa complicate leaf
a less common word for complicated
Word Origin for complicate
C17: from Latin complicāre to fold together, from plicāre to fold
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
complicate
1620s, "to intertwine" (as a past participle adjective, early 15c.), from Latin complicatus "folded together; confused, intricate," past participle of complicare (see complication). Meaning "to make more complex" is recorded from 1832, from earlier sense "to combine in a complex way" (17c.). Related: Complicated; complicating.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper