| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult, complex |
| Synonyms: | Byzantine, Daedalean, Gordian, abstruse, arduous, can of worms, convoluted, difficult, elaborate, entangled, fancy, gasser, hard, hi-tech, interlaced, intricate, involved, knotty, labyrinthine, mega factor, mixed, perplexing, problematic, puzzling, recondite, sophisticated, troublesome, various, wheels within wheels |
| Notes: | something complex may be well-organized and logically constructed as well as subtle and intricate, while a thing that is complicated will have something irregular, perverse, asymmetrical in addition to fundamental intricacy; complex is more formal and technical (a problem in mathematics is complex) while something like personal life can be complicated |
| Antonyms: | easy, facile, simple |
| Main Entry: | abstruse |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult to understand |
| Synonyms: | Greek to me, abstract, clear as dishwater, complex, complicated, deep, enigmatic, esoteric, heavy*, hidden, incomprehensible, intricate, involved, muddy, obscure, perplexing, profound, puzzling, recondite, subtle, unfathomable, vague |
| Antonyms: | clear, concrete, easy, lucid, obvious, plain, simple |
| Main Entry: | circuitous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | going around, indirect |
| Synonyms: | ambagious, back road, by way of, circular, collateral, complicated, devious, labyrinthine, long way, long way around, meandering, oblique, rambling, roundabout, tortuous, winding around |
| Antonyms: | direct, in line, straight |
| Main Entry: | complex |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | involved, intricate |
| Synonyms: | circuitous, complicated, composite, compound, compounded, confused, conglomerate, convoluted, elaborate, entangled, heterogeneous, knotty, labyrinthine, manifold, mingled, miscellaneous, mixed, mixed-up, mosaic, motley, multifarious, multiform, multiple, multiplex, tangled, tortuous, variegated |
| Notes: | something complex may be well-organized and logically constructed as well as subtle and intricate, while a thing that is complicated will have something irregular, perverse, asymmetrical in addition to fundamental intricacy; complex is more formal and technical (a problem in mathematics is complex) while something like personal life can be complicated |
| Antonyms: | clear, easy, evident, homogeneous, obvious, plain, simple, uniform |
| Main Entry: | complex |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult to understand |
| Synonyms: | Byzantine, Daedalean, Gordian, abstruse, bewildering, circuitous, complicated, confused, convoluted, crabbed, cryptic, discursive, disordered, disturbing, enigmatic, entangled, excursive, hidden, impenetrable, inscrutable, interwoven, intricate, involved, jumbled, knotted, knotty, labyrinthine, mazy, meandering, mingled, mixed, muddled, obscure, paradoxical, perplexing, puzzling, rambling, recondite, round-about, sinuous, snarled, sophisticated, tangled, tortuous, undecipherable, unfathomable, winding |
| Notes: | something complex may be well-organized and logically constructed as well as subtle and intricate, while a thing that is complicated will have something irregular, perverse, asymmetrical in addition to fundamental intricacy; complex is more formal and technical (a problem in mathematics is complex) while something like personal life can be complicated |
| Antonyms: | apparent, clear, direct, discernible, easy, evident, obvious, plain |
| Main Entry: | dark |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | hidden, secret |
| Synonyms: | Delphian, abstruse, anagogic, arcane, cabalistic, complicated, concealed, cryptic, deep, enigmatic, esoteric, intricate, knotty, mysterious, mystic, mystical, mystifying, not known, obscure, occult, puzzling, recondite |
| Antonyms: | apparent, distinct, evident, manifest, plain, visible |
| Main Entry: | detailed |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | itemized, particularized |
| Synonyms: | abundant, accurate, all-inclusive, amplified, at length, blow-by-blow, circumstantial, circumstantiated, clocklike, complete, complicated, comprehensive, copious, definite, described, developed, disclosed, elaborate, elaborated, enumerated, exact, exhausting, exhaustive, finicky*, full, fussy*, individual, individualized, intricate, meticulous, minute, narrow, nice, point-by-point, precise, seriatim, specific, specified, thorough, unfolded |
| Antonyms: | brief, cursory, inexhaustive, nonspecific, sparing, uncomplicated, undetailed |
| Main Entry: | elaborate |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | intricate; involved |
| Synonyms: | busy, careful, complex, complicated, decorated, detailed, elegant, embellished, exact, extensive, extravagant, fancy, fussy, garnished, high tech, highly wrought, imposing, knotty, labored, labyrinthine, luxurious, many-faceted, minute, ornamented, ornate, ostentatious, overdone, overworked, painstaking, perfected, plush, posh, precise, prodigious, refined, showy, skillful, sophisticated, studied, thorough, with all the extras, with all the options, with bells and whistles |
| Antonyms: | general, normal, plain, regular, simple, uncomplicated, unelaborate, uninvolved, usual |
| Main Entry: | fancy |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | extravagant, ornamental |
| Synonyms: | adorned, baroque, beautifying, chichi*, complicated, cushy, custom, decorated, decorative, deluxe, elaborate, elegant, embellished, fanciful, florid, frilly, froufrou, garnished, gaudy, gingerbread, intricate, lavish, ornate, ostentatious, resplendent, rich, rococo, showy, special, spiffy, sumptuous, unusual |
| Antonyms: | plain, unfancy, unornamented |