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Definition of complicate verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

complicate

verb
 
/ˈkɒmplɪkeɪt/
 
/ˈkɑːmplɪkeɪt/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they complicate
 
/ˈkɒmplɪkeɪt/
 
/ˈkɑːmplɪkeɪt/
he / she / it complicates
 
/ˈkɒmplɪkeɪts/
 
/ˈkɑːmplɪkeɪts/
past simple complicated
 
/ˈkɒmplɪkeɪtɪd/
 
/ˈkɑːmplɪkeɪtɪd/
past participle complicated
 
/ˈkɒmplɪkeɪtɪd/
 
/ˈkɑːmplɪkeɪtɪd/
-ing form complicating
 
/ˈkɒmplɪkeɪtɪŋ/
 
/ˈkɑːmplɪkeɪtɪŋ/
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  1. complicate something to make something more difficult to do, understand or deal with
    • I do not wish to complicate the task more than is necessary.
    • To complicate matters further, there will be no transport available till 8 o'clock.
    • The issue is complicated by the fact that a vital document is missing.
    Extra Examples
    • These events will greatly complicate the situation.
    • The situation is further complicated by the language difficulties.
    • This latest bloodshed greatly complicates efforts to bring peace to the region.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • enormously
    • greatly
    • seriously
    phrases
    • be complicated by the fact that
    See full entry
    Word Originearly 17th cent. (in the sense ‘combine, entangle, intertwine’): from Latin complicat- ‘folded together’, from the verb complicare, from com- ‘together’ + plicare ‘to fold’.
See complicate in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee complicate in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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adjective
 
 
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