- past participle of complicate.
- past tense form of complicate.
adjective
Other Word Forms
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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"Sorry, Wrong Number," Vocabulary from the play
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Excerpts from "To Kill a Mockingbird"
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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.
The introduction of faster jet-powered drones complicated the task for Ukraine, which had developed interceptor drones to take out earlier, slower craft.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
The researchers also suggest that previous studies of diet and IBD may have been complicated by differences in how individual patients are exposed to or process oxalate.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026
Benn's relationship with the British public remains complicated.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
Thus when World War II began, European nations took up arms against Nazi Germany for a straightforward reason—their lands and ways of life were under threat—while the calculus was more complicated in many Asian capitals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
However, as these were imaginary mice to begin with, getting rid of them was not nearly so complicated as all that.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
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.
