convolute
Americanverb (used with or without object)
adjective
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rolled up together or with one part over another.
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Botany. coiled up longitudinally so that one margin is within the coil and the other without, as the petals of cotton.
verb
adjective
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botany rolled longitudinally upon itself
a convolute petal
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another word for convoluted
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of convolute
First recorded in 1690–1700; from Latin convolūtus “rolled up,” past participle of convolvere “to roll together, roll up”; see convolve
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:
In that regard, “Bridgerton” chugs deliciously along for at least five episodes before it starts to convolute and collapse on itself.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 22, 2020
To convolute matters more, the federal government does not require prisons or jails to collect data on pregnancy and childbirth among female inmates.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 24, 2020
The suit on the right includes a waist convolute, which allowed the Apollo 15–17 lunar surface crews to sit on the lunar rover.
From Slate ● Dec. 16, 2013
But these new songs don’t feel arbitrary when they warp or convolute.
From New York Times ● Jun. 4, 2010
They are obconic, nearly always compound, convolute, or botryoid, in this respect somewhat resembling P. polycephalum.
From The North American Slime-Moulds A Descriptive List of All Species of Myxomycetes Hitherto Reported from the Continent of North America, with Notes on Some Extra-Limital Species by Thomas H. (Thomas Huston) MacBride
It was a set-up so convoluted that it's doubtful that even Ross, who has been permanently paranoid about being murdered in plain sight, rumbled them.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
Concerns about the profitability of artificial-intelligence ventures, convoluted debt deals underpinning data centers, and the future of chip demand had left some on Wall Street worried that the AI trade was petering out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
After all, I’d never lay myself off, push any convoluted apps down my own throat, replace me with AI or let students use chatbots to supplant themselves.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
Meanwhile, thousands more are waiting in county jails for cases that are winding through a new, convoluted and confusing system where geography controls the rules.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
The more convoluted the story lines, the more I liked them, and I imagined that all the long-suffering heroines looked like me, or rather, that I looked like them.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
He has disobeyed all the "rules," convoluting and twirling the plastic concrete with an insolent skill, and even using that antediluvian material glass block with flair.
From Time Magazine Archive
“A convoluting gray cloud had piled where Mount St. Helens should be,” said Bea.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
Before them rose the fantastic, twisting, convoluting, turning spires of a tall, marvelous, glittering city.
From Collector's Item by Evelyn E. Smith
Suddenly, I realized that I was in more than any mortal danger; for the convoluting shadows about the ring were taking shape, and the death-hand was forming within the Pentacle.
From Carnacki, the Ghost Finder by William Hope Hodgson
The robot held me back as Lhar advanced toward the girls, the skirt-like frill at her base convoluting as she moved.
From Where the World is Quiet by Henry Kuttner
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