Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Intricate

In′tri-cate

,
Adj.
[L.
intricatus
, p. p. of
intricare
to entangle, perplex. Cf.
Intrigue
,
Extricate
.]
Entangled; involved; perplexed; complicated; difficult to understand, follow, arrange, or adjust;
as,
intricate
machinery, labyrinths, accounts, plots, etc.
His style was fit to convey the most
intricate
business to the understanding with the utmost clearness.
Addison.
Syn. –
Intricate
,
Complex
,
Complicated
.
A thing is complex when it is made up of parts; it is complicated when those parts are so many, or so arranged, as to make it difficult to grasp them; it is intricate when it has numerous windings and confused involutions which it is hard to follow out. What is complex must be resolved into its parts; what is complicated must be drawn out and developed; what is intricate must be unraveled.

In′tri-cate

,
Verb.
T.
To entangle; to involve; to make perplexing.
[Obs.]
It makes men troublesome, and
intricates
all wise discourses.
Jer. Taylor.

Webster 1828 Edition

Intricate

IN'TRICATE

,
Adj.
[L. intricatus, from intrico, to fold; in and tricor.] Entangled, involved; perplexed; complicated; obscure. We passed through intricate windings. We found the accounts intricate. The case on trial is intricate. The plot of a tragedy may be too intricate to please.

IN'TRICATE

,
Verb.
T.
To perplex; to make obscure. [Little used.]

Definition 2024

intricate

intricate

English

Alternative forms

  • entricate

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɪn.trɪ.kət/

Adjective

intricate ‎(comparative more intricate, superlative most intricate)

  1. Having a great deal of fine detail or complexity.
    The architecture of this clock is very intricate.‎
    • Joseph Addison (1672–1719)
      His style was fit to convey the most intricate business to the understanding with the utmost clearness.
    • 1907, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “chapter V”, in The Younger Set (Project Gutenberg; EBook #14852), New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, published 1 February 2005 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 4241346:
      As a matter of fact its narrow ornate façade presented not a single quiet space that the eyes might rest on after a tiring attempt to follow and codify the arabesques, foliations, and intricate vermiculations of what some disrespectfully dubbed as “near-aissance.”
Translations

Etymology 2

As the adjective; or by analogy with extricate

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɪn.trɪ.keɪt/

Verb

intricate ‎(third-person singular simple present intricates, present participle intricating, simple past and past participle intricated)

  1. (intransitive) To become enmeshed or entangled.
    • 1864 October 18, J.E. Freund, “How to Avoid the Use of Lint”, letter to the editor, in The New York Times (1864 October 23):
      […] washes off easily, without sticking or intricating into the wound.
  2. (transitive) To enmesh or entangle: to cause to intricate.
    • 1994 December 12, William Safire, “Avoid Dunkirk II” (essay), in The New York Times:
      But the British and French won't hear of that; they want to get their troops extricated and our ground troops intricated.

Anagrams

Italian

Adjective

intricate f pl

  1. feminine plural of intricato

Verb

intricate

  1. second-person plural present of intricare
  2. second-person plural imperative of intricare
  3. feminine plural past participle of intricare

Anagrams

Latin

Verb

intrīcāte

  1. first-person plural present active imperative of intrīcō

Etymology

From Latin intricatus (past participle of intricare).

Similar Results