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Convoluted

Extremely complex and difficult to follow; winding and intricate.

adjective

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Imagine This

Imagine walking through a maze where every hallway leads to another twisty passage, and the map itself is a tangle of lines that never seems to end.

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Sounds Like

KON-vuh-LOO-tid

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Looks Like

Looks like a long, winding coil or text that keeps twisting back on itself.

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Remember This

Rooted in the idea of coils and twists; related to 'convolution' and 'to coil'.

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Other Forms

convoluteverb

convolutionnoun

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Connect With

intricate, tangled, labyrinthine, Byzantine, knotty

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Note

Use for explanations, plots, routes, or arguments that are needlessly complicated. Do not describe a person as convoluted; instead say 'a convoluted plan' or 'a convoluted explanation.'

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Study Deeper

Examples

The professor offered a convoluted explanation that only confused the students further.
The plot became increasingly convoluted as more suspects and red herrings were introduced.

Synonyms

intricatecomplextangledlabyrinthineByzantine

Antonyms

straightforwardsimpleunambiguous

Etymology

From Latin convolutus 'rolled together,' past participle of convolere 'to roll together' (con- 'together' + volv- 'to roll').

Mnemonic

Convoluted = con + volute (a coil). Picture a long scroll coiled around itself, a plan so twisted you have to unravel it to understand.