AI tools

complicate

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Etymology

First attested in the early 17th century; borrowed from Latin complicātus, perfect passive participle of complicō (“to fold together”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from con- (“together”) + plicō (“to fold, weave, knit”); see plaid, and compare complex. See also Middle English complicate (“involved”).

Pronunciation

Verb
Adjective

Verb

complicate (third-person singular simple present complicates, present participle complicating, simple past and past participle complicated)

  1. (transitive) To make complex; to modify so as to make something intricate or difficult.
    • 1896, Arthur Edward Waite, “Chapter 14”, in Devil-Worship in France, or the Question of Lucifer:
      Let us, however, put aside for the moment the mendacities and forgeries which complicate the question of Lucifer, and let us approach Palladism from an altogether different side.
  2. (transitive) To involve in a convoluted matter.
    Don't complicate yourself in issues that are beyond the scope of your understanding.
    John has been complicated in the affair by new tapes that surfaced.
    The DA has made every effort to complicate me in the scandal.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Adjective

complicate (comparative more complicate, superlative most complicate)

  1. (obsolete) Intertwined.
  2. (now rare, poetic) Complex, complicated.
    • 1745, Edward Young, Night-Thoughts, section I:
      How poor, how rich, how abject, how august, / How complicate, how wonderful, is Man!

Derived terms

Further reading

Italian

Etymology 1

Adjective

complicate

  1. feminine plural of complicato

Participle

complicate f pl

  1. feminine plural of complicato

Etymology 2

Verb

complicate

  1. inflection of complicare:
    1. second-person plural present indicative
    2. second-person plural imperative

Latin

Verb

complicāte

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of complicō

Spanish

Verb

complicate

  1. second-person singular voseo imperative of complicar combined with te

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.