Meanings
present singular third person complicates · participle present complicating · participle past complicated · past complicated
- transitiveTo make complex; to modify so as to make something intricate or difficult.
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.
1896, Arthur Edward Waite, “Chapter 14”, in Devil-Worship in France, or the Question of Lucifer - transitiveTo involve in a convoluted matter.
The DA has made every effort to complicate me in the scandal.
2 more examples
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.
Synonyms: intricate, entangle, embroil, involve, mix up, mire
- transitivemedicineTo coexist with (another disease) creating a complication.
1 more example
Masked or larvate malaria, like pernicious malaria, needs complete overhauling. Nearly every disease in the category has been confounded with malaria and classed as larvate. This heterogeneous group has been expanded to embrace diseases unrelated to malaria, diseases complicating malaria, and symptoms and sequelæ of malaria.
1909, William Heiskell Deaderick, A Practical Study of Malaria, page 232
comparative more complicate · superlative most complicate
- obsoleteIntertwined.
- archaicpoeticComplex, complicated.
How poor ? how rich ? how abject ? how auguſt ? ¶ How complicat ? how wonderful is Man ?
1742, [Edward Young], “Night the First”, in The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality, London: […] R[obert] Dodsley […], →OCLC, page 5, lines 67–68
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latincomplicātus
- Englishcomplicate
First attested in the early 17th century; borrowed from Latin complicātus, perfect passive participle of complicō (“to fold together, fold up”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from con- (“with, together with, in the company of, in connection with, along with, together, and”) + plicō (“to fold, wind, coil”); see plaid, and compare complex. See also Middle English complicate (“involved”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تَعَقَّدَ, عَقَّدَ
- تَعَقَّدَ (taʕaqqada)to combine intricately
- عَقَّدَ (ʕaqqada)to combine intricately
Bulgarian усложня́вам
- усложня́вам (usložnjávam)to combine intricately
Catalan complicar
- complicarto combine intricately
Chinese Mandarin 弄複雜 /弄复杂, 複雜化 /复杂化
- 弄複雜 /弄复杂 (nòng fùzá)to combine intricately
- 複雜化 /复杂化 (fùzáhuà)to combine intricately
Czech komplikovat
- komplikovatto combine intricately
Danish komplicere
- komplicereto combine intricately
Dutch compliceren
- complicerento combine intricately
Esperanto kompliki
- komplikito combine intricately
Finnish sekoittaa
- sekoittaato combine intricately
French compliquer
- compliquerto combine intricately
German komplizieren
- komplizierento combine intricately
Hebrew סיבך
- סיבך (sibékh)to combine intricately
Hungarian bonyolít, komplikál
- bonyolítto combine intricately
- komplikálto combine intricately
Italian complicare
- complicareto combine intricately
Japanese 複雑にする
- 複雑にする (fukuzatsu ni suru)to combine intricately
Latvian komplicēt, sarežģīt
- komplicētto combine intricately
- sarežģītto combine intricately
Norwegian Bokmål komplisere
- komplisereto combine intricately
Polish komplikować, skomplikować
- komplikowaćto combine intricately
- skomplikowaćto combine intricately
Portuguese complicar
- complicarto combine intricately
Romanian complica
- complicato combine intricately
Russian усложня́ть, усложни́ть
- усложня́ть (usložnjátʹ)to combine intricately
- усложни́ть (usložnítʹ)to combine intricately
- осложня́ть (osložnjátʹ)to combine intricately
- осложни́ть (osložnítʹ)to combine intricately
Scottish Gaelic cuir tro-chèile
- cuir tro-chèileto combine intricately
Spanish complicar, complejizar
- complicarto combine intricately
- complejizarto combine intricately
Swedish komplicera
- komplicerato combine intricately
Ukrainian ускла́днювати, ускладни́ти
- ускла́днювати (uskládnjuvaty)to combine intricately
- ускладни́ти (uskladnýty)to combine intricately
Vietnamese làm phức tạp
- làm phức tạpto combine intricately
Cite this entry
complicate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/complicate
“complicate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/complicate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “complicate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/complicate.
Source: complicate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.