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.
A doctor involved in the development of Scotland's super-hospital has claimed his concerns over patient safety were repeatedly ignored.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
“And they told me, and I was like, ‘Oh, this sounds like an interesting project, something that we ought to be involved in, and really listen to these locals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Some might feel too much focus is given towards the IPL link, with four of the eight Hundred teams owned by group also involved in IPL franchises.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Terekh isn’t involved in picking targets inside Russia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
In many ways, the Immigration and Naturalization Service was more involved.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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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.