involved
Americanadjective
-
very intricate or complex.
an involved reply.
- Synonyms:
- tangled, knotty, complicated
- Antonyms:
- simple
-
implicated.
involved in crime.
-
concerned in some affair, especially in a way likely to cause danger or unpleasantness.
I didn't call the police because I didn't want to get involved.
-
committed or engaged, as in a political cause or artistic movement.
The civil rights demonstration attracted the involved young people of the area.
adjective
-
complicated; difficult to comprehend
an involved literary style
-
(usually postpositive) concerned or implicated
one of the men involved
-
euphemistic having sexual relations
she was involved with a number of men
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of involved
Explanation
Being involved means being a part of something or associated with it. If you volunteer on a team to clean up the playground, you're involved in making it a safer and more fun place for kids to play. Involved is an adjective with many different uses. It can describe something difficult or complicated, as in "really involved instructions for putting together a plane model," or it describes relationships and partnerships, like when you’re involved with someone in a serious dating relationship or are involved in helping out as a tutor after school. You can be involved in more negative situations, too, as when a country is involved in spying on another or a group is involved in plotting a crime.
Vocabulary lists containing involved
Thirteen Reasons Why
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"Speaking Up"
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"Kids Like Me: Voices of the Immigrant Experience"
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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.
"Tracey was the first on the scene, but she was then joined by her husband Andy and their youngest son Edward. All three were involved in the rescue," he added.
From BBC • Jun. 22, 2026
Byrd’s personal transformation involved migrating from a solid self who truly believed in segregation to a solid self who truly believed in racial equality.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 22, 2026
Infectious disease specialists should be involved in patient management, and public health authorities must be notified.
From Science Daily • Jun. 22, 2026
As opposed to previous A.I.-powered breakthroughs that involved back-and-forth conversations between a chatbot and a human expert, this was cracked with a single prompt.
From Slate • Jun. 22, 2026
The other kids that zoom by us are mostly too involved with each other to look our way.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
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.
