adjective
Other Word Forms
- complicatedly adverb
- complicatedness noun
- uncomplicated adjective
Etymology
Origin of complicated
First recorded in 1640–50; complicate + -ed 2
Explanation
When things get complicated, they are no longer simple and straightforward. If you are asked a question that would require a long, detailed answer, you might just say, "It's complicated." The word complicated came about in the 1640's to mean "tangled" or "difficult to unravel." This makes sense, considering it came from the Latin verb complicāre, meaning "to fold together." Consider that something with many folds is more complicated than something flat. Novelist Robert Ludlum said, "Life is extremely complicated," but Confucius long ago suggested that "Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated." Just having those two opposing viewpoints indicates how complicated life can be.
Vocabulary lists containing complicated
Schooled
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Twelve Angry Men
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"Sorry, Wrong Number," Vocabulary from the play
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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.
"This project involved more complicated logistics than any I've been involved with in my career. So many moving parts, and so much talent among the scientists, drillers and support staff," Briner says.
From Science Daily • Apr. 18, 2026
It’s a Homeric voyage, if Homer were familiar with the complicated system of roadways and toll stations that is the New Jersey Turnpike.
From Salon • Apr. 18, 2026
The most complicated case of the finale episode comes when a patient needs emergency surgery to extract her baby, then a second team in the room works to save the oxygen-starved newborn.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
Alessandra Malito writes the Help Me Retire column, in which she digs deeply to assist MarketWatch readers navigating complicated sets of rules on retirement planning, taxes and government benefits.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 17, 2026
It’s hard to make simple out of complicated, like trying to make a straight line out of a tangled knot.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
Definitions 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.
