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
Corolla bell-shaped, 5-cleft; the lobes convolute in the bud; the tube furnished with 5 longitudinal linear appendages opposite the lobes, which cohere by their middle, while their edges are folded inward, forming a nectariferous groove.
From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa
With regard to “quality,” the evidence suggests profitability incorporates any information about expected returns that may be captured by a long list of quality metrics, including convoluted “roll-ups” of many separate measures of firm strength.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
Their stories are sometimes convoluted, but at bottom they boil down to the same three elements: salt, wind and water.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
Even in the film’s most convoluted moments, there’s a fire of dissent percolating just beneath its surface.
From Salon ● May 22, 2026
He also had some convoluted answers that didn’t land.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
I can’t imagine what convoluted story Theo has come up with to tell her, but whatever it is must be a prizeworthy performance.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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
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 Kuttner, Henry
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 Hodgson, William Hope
Before them rose the fantastic, twisting, convoluting, turning spires of a tall, marvelous, glittering city.
From Collector's Item by Smith, Evelyn E.
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.
