complicate

English

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

Verb

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑmplɪkeɪt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒmplɪkeɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: com‧pli‧cate

Adjective

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒmplɪkət/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

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.

3. (transitive) To involve in a convoluted matter.

   Synonyms: intricate, entangle, embroil, involve, mix up (in something), mire

   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.

4. (medicine, transitive) To coexist with (another disease) creating a complication.
   • 1909, William Heiskell Deaderick, A Practical Study of Malaria, page 232:

     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.

Derived terms

• complicative
• complicator
• decomplicate
• overcomplicate
• recomplicate
• simplicate
• uncomplicate

Related terms

• complication
• explicate
• implicate

Translations

to combine intricately

• Arabic: تَعَقَّدَ (taʕaqqada), عَقَّدَ (ar) (ʕaqqada)
• Armenian: բարդացնել (hy) (bardacʻnel)
• Asturian: complicar
• Bulgarian: усложня́вам (bg) (usložnjávam)
• Catalan: complicar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 弄複雜 / 弄复杂 (nòng fùzá), 複雜化 / 复杂化 (zh) (fùzáhuà)

• Czech: komplikovat
• Danish: komplicere
• Dutch: compliceren (nl)
• Esperanto: kompliki (eo)
• French: compliquer (fr)
• Georgian: გაართულებს (gaartulebs)
• German: komplizieren (de)
• Hebrew: סיבך (sibékh)
• Hungarian: bonyolít (hu), komplikál (hu)
• Interlingua: complicar
• Italian: complicare (it)
• Japanese: 複雑にする (fukuzatsu ni suru)
• Latvian: komplicēt, sarežģīt
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: komplisere

• Polish: komplikować (pl) impf, skomplikować (pl) pf
• Portuguese: complicar (pt)
• Romanian: complica (ro)
• Russian: усложня́ть (ru) impf (usložnjátʹ), усложни́ть (ru) pf (usložnítʹ), осложня́ть (ru) impf (osložnjátʹ), осложни́ть (ru) pf (osložnítʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: cuir tro-chèile
• Spanish: complicar (es), complejizar
• Swedish: komplicera (sv)
• Ukrainian: ускла́днювати impf (uskládnjuvaty), ускладни́ти pf (uskladnýty)
• Vietnamese: làm phức tạp

See also

• complex

Adjective

complicate (comparative more complicate, superlative most complicate)

1. (obsolete) Intertwined.
2. (now rare, poetic) Complex, complicated.
   • 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:

     How poor ? how rich ? how abject ? how auguſt ? ¶ How complicat ? how wonderful is Man ?

Derived terms

• complicate fever
• complicately
• complicateness (obsolete)

Further reading

• “complicate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “complicate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “complicate”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Interlingua

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kom.pliˈka.te/
• Rhymes: -ate
• Hyphenation: com‧pli‧ca‧te

Verb

complicate

1. past participle of complicar

Adjective

complicate (comparative plus complicate, superlative le plus complicate)

1. complicated

   morbo complicate ― disease with complications (literally, “disease complicated”)

Related terms

• complicar
• complication

Further reading

• Alexander Gode (1951), Interlingua-English: A Dictionary of the International Language, New York: Storm Publishers, →OL

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kom.pliˈka.te/
• Rhymes: -ate
• Hyphenation: com‧pli‧cà‧te

Adjective

complicate

1. feminine plural of complicato

Participle

complicate

1. feminine plural of complicato

Verb

complicate

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

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [kɔm.plɪˈkaː.tɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [kom.pliˈkaː.te]
• Hyphenation: com‧pli‧cā‧te

Verb

complicāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of complicō

Participle

complicāte

1. vocative masculine singular of complicātus

Middle English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin complicātus, from complicō.

Participle

complicate

1. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:) involved

Further reading

• “complicāte, ppl.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 16 June 2026.

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kompliˈkate/ [kõm.pliˈka.t̪e]
• Rhymes: -ate
• Syllabification: com‧pli‧ca‧te

Verb

complicate

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