Complicate

Definition: Complicate

Complicate

Verb

1. Make more complicated; "There was a new development that complicated the matter".

2. Make more complex, intricate, or richer; "refine a design or pattern".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "complicate" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1818. (references)

Science

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Complicate

Arrangement

Turn topsy-turvy; (invert); bedevil; complicate, involve, perplex, confound; imbrangle, embrangle, tangle, entangle, ravel, tousle, towzle, dishevel, ruffle; rumple; (fold).

Complexity

Verb: complexify, complicate.

Crosswords: Complicate

Why do you always complicate things that are really quite simple (Mary Poppins; writing credit: P.L. Travers; Bill Walsh)

To the doubts that complicate your mind (WE BELONG; performing artist: Pat Benatar)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Health

It would also complicate donor management. (references)

All of these factors complicate the task of finding volunteers. (references)

Immunologic consequences also complicate homologous red cell transfusion. (references)

Business

However, foreign investment will complicate the reform process, and has already become a major target for criticism and public outcry. (references)

Children

Malaysia

However, Islamic law provisions that consider a Muslim girl an adult after she has had her first menstruation sometimes complicate prosecution of statutory rape. (references)

Civil Liberties

Kyrgyz Republic

The Constitution provides for these rights and the Government generally respects the right of free travel to and from the country; however, certain policies continued to complicate internal migration, resettlement, and travel abroad. (references)

Economic History

Russia

When applied to expatriates, however, there may be some withholding requirements which complicate the issue. (references)

Human Rights

Morocco

According to several human rights organizations, achieving consensus on a definitive number of political prisoners is extremely difficult, mainly because conditions in the Western Sahara complicate attempts to confirm whether Sahrawis were imprisoned solely for their political affiliation or open advocacy of Western Saharan independence, or whether they were imprisoned for other actions in violation of the law. (references)

Political Economy

THAILAND

Corruption and a cultural climate of leniency can complicate many phases of the legal process. (references)

Ethiopia

Highly centralized authority, poverty, civil conflict, and unfamiliarity with democratic concepts combine to complicate the implementation of federalism. (references)

Trade

Germany

Complex safety standards, not normally discriminatory but sometimes zealously applied, complicate access to the market for many U.S. products. (references)

Worker Rights

Brazil

Government officials and labor activists say that widespread poverty, low levels of education, and lack of awareness of workers' rights greatly complicate efforts to combat forced labor. (references)

Brazil

Witnesses' fear of retaliation and the fact that police generally do not conduct criminal investigations when accompanying labor inspectors on raids also complicate efforts to build a solid case in court. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Expressions using "complicate": complicate matters ♦ complicate matters unnecessarily. Additional references.

Albanian

rëndoj (aggravate, burden, cumber, encumber, exacerbate, load, weigh, weigh down, weigh on), ngatërroj (bedevil, bewilder, confound, confuse, disorient, disorientate, disturb, embarrass, embrangle, embroil, entangle, entrap, flummox, fuddle, garble, hash, immerse, implicate, intricate, involve, jerk off, jumble, lug in, make a hash of cutting, make a mess of, mess about, mistake, mix up, monkey, muddle, muddy, put out, Ravel, snarl, tamper, tie up), ndërlikoj (bedevil, perplex, sophisticate). (various references)

Arabic 

‏معقد (busy, complicated, convoluted, deep, difficult, doctrinarian, entangled, inextricable, intricacy, intricate, invalid, involute, knotted, knotty, nasty, perplexing, snarled, sophisticated, tangled, tangly, tricky), ‏مطوي على نفسه, ‏تعقد (complexity, complication, entanglement, kink, snarl, tangle), ‏عقد (act, agreement, bead, cast, charter, compact, conclude, congeal, contract, convene, convention, covenant, decade, deed, draw, embarrass, engagement, entangle, hitch, hold, indent, instrument, knitting, knot, lease, muckrake, muddy, pact, perplex, promise, ravel, vault, vaulting, writing), ‏صعب (arduous, complicated, difficult, formidable, frustrating, hard and fast, harsh, hot stuff, knotty, lean, malaise, mure, nice, outrageous, risque, rough, rum, severe, sticky, stony, tartar, tricky, uneasy). (various references)

Bulgarian 

усложнявам (elaborate, involve, perplex, snarl, tangle), отежнявам (aggravate), обърквам (abash, addle, baffle, bedevil, befuddle, bewilder, confound, confuse, discomfit, disconcert, disjoint, dislocate, distract, embarrass, embroil, flatten, flummox, fluster, foil, fuddle, gravel, jumble, maze, mess about, mess around, mess up, muddle, muff, muss, nonplus, obfuscate, overwhelm, perplex, pose, put off, put out, puzzle, sew up, snarl, stonker, throw out, tumble, vex, wilder), затруднявам (beat, embarrass, encumber, hamper, hinder, nonplus, overwhelm, put out, stick, straiten, stump, trouble), забърквам (baffle, embroil, involve, mix up, muff, perplex, snarl up, tangle). (various references)

Chinese 

复杂化 (Complicating, Complication). (various references)

Czech

zkomplikovat (mess up), komplikovat (embrangle). (various references)

Dutch

ingewikkeld maken, compliceren. (various references)

Esperanto

kompliki. (various references)

Farsi 

پیچیده کردن (Entangle), پیچیدن (Envelop, Enwrap, Fake, Impact, Lap, Nest, Reverberate, Roll, Screw, Swab, Swath, Swathe, Tweak, Twinge, Twist, Wattle, Wind, Wrap), بغرنج کردن (Ensnare, Snarl). (various references)

Finnish

mutkistaa. (various references)

French

compliquer (congeal). (various references)

German

komplizieren (bedevil, perplex, puzzle), kompliziere. (various references)

Greek 

περιπλέκω (bedevil, bewilder, embroil, enmesh, entangle, mystify, perplex, pleach, puzzle, twist, web). (various references)

Hebrew 

לעשות יותר מורכב, לסבך (confuse, embroil, implicate, involve, mesh, mess, sophisticate), לסבוך (interlace, interweave). (various references)

Hungarian

komplikál (to complicate), bonyolít (to complicate). (various references)

Indonesian

menyulitkan, memperumit, mempersulit (render something difficult). (various references)

Italian

complicarsi (tangle), complicare (aggravate, embroil, get complicated, involve, perplex, sophisticate, thicken), ingarbugliare (confuse, entangle, garble, get entangled). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

捏ね�"す (to complicate, to knead, to mix, to turn into a mess), 捏ね回す (to complicate, to knead, to mix, to turn into a mess). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

�"ねまわす (to complicate, to knead, to mix, to turn into a mess), �"ねかえす (to complicate, to knead, to mix, to turn into a mess). (various references)

Korean 

복잡하게 하십시�". (various references)

Manx

jannoo co-chast, cur trooid y cheilley (subvert). (various references)

Norwegian

komplisere (entangle). (various references)

Pig Latin

omplicatecay.(various references)

Portuguese

complicar (knot, ravel, tangle, thicken). (various references)

Romanian

complica (embarrass, mystify, obscure, perplex, puzzle, thicken), se complica, încurca (confound, confuse, cumber, discomfit, embrangle, embroil, entangle, floor, foul, gravel, hamper, hash, hinder, intertangle, involve, jumble, maze, medley, muddle, nonplus, perplex, pile up, pose, put out, puzzle, restrain, shuffle, sputter, stump, tangle, trouble). (various references)

Russian 

усложнять (perplex, perplexing). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

komlikovati. (various references)

Spanish

complicar (bedevil, involve, perplex). (various references)

Swedish

komplicera (elaborate, embroil). (various references)

Turkish

zorlaştırmak (becloud, obstruct, rock), karıştırmak (add, admix, amalgamate, blend, churn, commingle, commix, concoct, confound, confuse, darken, diffuse, disarrange, disarray, discompose, disconcert, disorder, disorganize, disturb, embroil, entangle, ferret about, foul, foul up, hash, implicate, interfuse, interlace, interlard, intermingle, intermix, involve, inweave, jumble, jumble together, jumble up, knot, litter, make hay of smth., meld, mess, mess smth. about, mess up, mingle, mistake, mix, mix up, monkey around with, monkey with, muddle, muss, pick, poke, poke up, Ravel, ruffle, scramble, scramble together, scramble up, shuffle, snarl, stir, stir up, tamper with, tangle, tousle, trim, tumble, unsettle, weave), içinden çıkılmaz hale getirmek (becloud, cock up, make it worse, tangle), güçleştirmek (make difficult, trammel). (various references)

Turkmen 

kynlaюdyrmak. (various references)

Ukrainian

ускладнюватися (tangle), ускладнювати (decompound, embarrass, embrangle, entangle, mystify, perplex, tangle), заплутувати (ball up, embrangle, embroil, entangle, jack off, jerk off, muss, obscure, puzzle, tangle). (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "complicate": complicated, complicatedly, complicatedness, complicatednesses, complicates. (additional references)

Words ending with "complicate": overcomplicate. (additional references)

Words containing "complicate": noncomplicated, overcomplicated, overcomplicates, uncomplicated. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Complicate" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: compleate, complecate, compliat, complica, complice, complicite, comprimat. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: eclamptic.

-2 letters: alopecic, compleat, complect, complice, poetical.

-3 letters: aloetic, apomict, calcite, capitol, climate, coalpit, coeliac, comatic, cometic, comical, compact, compile, ectopia, ectopic, metical, metopic, oilcamp, optical, optimal, plicate, polecat, polemic, potamic, telomic, topical.

-4 letters: accept, acetic, aplite, atelic, atomic, atopic, calico, camlet, caplet, capote, celiac, cicale, citola, citole, coempt, coital, comate, compel, copalm, epical.

+1 letter: compactible, complicated, complicates, ectoplasmic.

+3 letters: cephalometric, complicatedly, conceptualism, microparticle, petrochemical, photochemical, phytochemical, uncomplicated.

+4 letters: accomplishment, conceptualisms, microparticles, noncomplicated, overcomplicate, petrochemicals.

+5 letters: accomplishments, complicatedness, overcomplicated, overcomplicates, photochemically, photomechanical, phytochemically, ultramicroscope.