Word Study
complex
CIDE DICTIONARY
complex, a. [L. complexus, p. p. of complecti to entwine around, comprise; com- + plectere to twist, akin to plicare to fold. See Plait, n. ].
- Composed of two or more parts; composite; not simple; as, a complex being; a complex idea. [1913 Webster]"Ideas thus made up of several simple ones put together, I call complex; such as beauty, gratitude, a man, an army, the universe." [1913 Webster]
- Involving many parts; complicated; intricate. [1913 Webster]"When the actual motions of the heavens are calculated in the best possible way, the process is difficult and complex." [1913 Webster]
Syn. -- See Intricate.
complex, n. [L. complexus].
Assemblage of related things; collection; complication. [1913 Webster]
"This parable of the wedding supper comprehends in it the whole complex of all the blessings and privileges exhibited by the gospel." [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
complex, n. & adj.
--n.
1 a building, a series of rooms, a network, etc. made up of related parts (the arts complex).
2 Psychol. a related group of usu. repressed feelings or thoughts which cause abnormal behaviour or mental states (see inferiority complex (see OEDIPUS COMPLEX)).
3 (in general use) a preoccupation or obsession (has a complex about punctuality).
4 Chem. a compound in which molecules or ions form coordinate bonds to a metal atom or ion.
--adj.
1 consisting of related parts; composite.
2 complicated (a complex problem).
3 Math. containing real and imaginary parts (cf. IMAGINARY).
--n.
1 a building, a series of rooms, a network, etc. made up of related parts (the arts complex).
2 Psychol. a related group of usu. repressed feelings or thoughts which cause abnormal behaviour or mental states (see inferiority complex (see OEDIPUS COMPLEX)).
3 (in general use) a preoccupation or obsession (has a complex about punctuality).
4 Chem. a compound in which molecules or ions form coordinate bonds to a metal atom or ion.
--adj.
1 consisting of related parts; composite.
2 complicated (a complex problem).
3 Math. containing real and imaginary parts (cf. IMAGINARY).
Idiom
complex sentence a sentence containing a subordinate clause or clauses.
Derivative
complexity n. (pl. -ies). complexly adv.
Etymology
F complexe or L complexus past part. of complectere embrace, assoc. with complexus plaited
THESAURUS
complex
Byzantine, Chinese puzzle, Diana complex, Electra complex, Gordian knot, Herculean, Oedipus complex, Rube Goldberg contraption, abstruse, acculturation, amalgamated, ambiguous, ambivalent, amphibious, arduous, baffling, balled up, bewildering, beyond one, blended, brutal, can of worms, castration complex, civilization, collectivity, combined, complicated, composite, compound, compounded, compulsion, confounded, confounding, confused, confusing, conglomerate, convoluted, crabbed, cramp, critical, cultural drift, culture, culture area, culture center, culture complex, culture conflict, culture contact, culture pattern, culture trait, daedal, dappled, delicate, demanding, devious, difficile, difficult, distracting, disturbing, eclectic, elaborate, embodiment, embrangled, entangled, entirety, equivocal, ethos, exacting, fascination, father complex, fifty-fifty, fixation, fixed idea, folkways, formidable, fouled up, garbled, gordian, hairy, half-and-half, hang-up, hard, hard to understand, hard-earned, hard-fought, heterogeneous, hypercathexis, idee fixe, implicated, indiscriminate, inferiority complex, integer, integration, integrity, intricate, involute, involuted, involved, ironic, irresistible impulse, jawbreaking, jumbled, jungle, key trait, knot, knotted, knotty, laborious, labyrinth, labyrinthian, labyrinthine, loused up, many-faceted, many-sided, matted, maze, mazy, mean, meander, meandering, medley, mesh, mess, messed up, mingled, miscellaneous, mixed, mixed up, mixed-up, monomania, morbid drive, mores, mother complex, motley, mucked up, multifaceted, multifarious, multinational, multiracial, mysterious, mystifying, no picnic, not easy, obfuscated, obscure, obscured, obsession, obsessive compulsion, oneness, operose, organic unity, overtechnical, parent complex, patchy, perplex, perplexed, perplexing, persecution complex, pluralistic, possession, preoccupation, prepossession, promiscuous, puzzling, ramified, ravel, reticular, rigorous, rough, roundabout, rugged, ruling passion, scrambled, screwed up, set with thorns, severe, snafu, snake pit, snarl, snarled, society, sophisticated, spiny, steep, strenuous, subtle, superiority complex, syncretic, tangle, tangled, tangled skein, tangly, thorny, thrown together, tic, ticklish, toilsome, totality, tough, trait, trait-complex, tricky, twisted, unity, uphill, vague, varied, webwork, wheels within wheels, whole, wicked, wildernessROGET THESAURUS
complex
Whole
N whole, totality, integrity, totalness, entirety, ensemble, collectiveness, unity, completeness, indivisibility, indiscerptibility, integration, embodiment, integer, all, the whole, total, aggregate, one and all, gross amount, sum, sum total, tout ensemble, length and breadth of, Alpha and Omega, be all and end all, complex, complexus, lock stock and barrel, bulk, mass, lump, tissue, staple, body, compages, trunk, torso, bole, hull, hulk, skeleton greater part, major part, best part, principal part, main part, essential part, lion's share, Benjamin's mess, the long and the short, nearly, all, almost all, whole, total, integral, entire, complete, one, individual, unbroken, intact, uncut, undivided, unsevered, unclipped, uncropped, unshorn, seamless, undiminished, undemolished, undissolved, undestroyed, unbruised, indivisible, indissoluble, indissolvable, indiscerptible, wholesale, sweeping, comprehensive, wholly, altogether, totally, entirely, all, all in all, as a whole, wholesale, in a body, collectively, all put together, in the aggregate, in the lump, in the mass, in the gross, in the main, in the long run, en masse, as a body, on the whole, bodily, en bloc, in extenso, throughout, every inch, substantially, tout bien ou rien.Disorder
N disorder, derangement, irregularity, anomaly, anarchy, anarchism, want of method, untidiness, disunion, discord, confusion, confusedness, mishmash, mix, disarray, jumble, huddle, litter, lumber, cahotage, farrago, mess, mash, muddle, muss, hash, hodgepodge, hotch-potch, hotch-pot, imbroglio, chaos, omnium gatherum, medley, mere mixture, fortuitous concourse of atoms, disjecta membra, rudis indigestaque moles, complexity, turmoil, ferment, to-do, trouble, pudder, pother, row, rumble, disturbance, hubbub, convulsion, tumult, uproar, revolution, riot, rumpus, stour, scramble, brawl, fracas, rhubarb, fight, free-for-all, row, ruction, rumpus, embroilment, melee, spill and pelt, rough and tumble, whirlwind, bear garden, Babel, Saturnalia, donnybrook, Donnybrook Fair, confusion worse confounded, most admired disorder, concordia discors, Bedlam, all hell broke loose, bull in a china shop, all the fat in the fire, diable a' quatre, Devil to pay, pretty kettle of fish, pretty piece of work, pretty piece of business, disorderly person, disorderly persons offence, misdemeanor, slattern, slut (libertine), disorderly, orderless, out of order, out of place, out of gear, irregular, desultory, anomalous, acephalous, deranged, aimless, disorganized, straggling, unmethodical, immethodical, unsymmetric, unsystematic, untidy, slovenly, dislocated, out of sorts, promiscuous, indiscriminate, chaotic, anarchical, unarranged &c (arrange), confused, deranged, topsy-turvy, shapeless, disjointed, out of joint, troublous, riotous, complex, irregularly, by fits, by fits and snatches, by fits and starts, pellmell, higgledy-piggledy, helter-skelter, harum-scarum, in a ferment, at sixes and sevens, at cross-purposes, upside down, the cart before the horse, hysteron proteron, chaos is come again, the wreck of matter and the crush of worlds.Complexity
N complexity, complexness, complexus, complication, implication, intricacy, intrication, perplexity, network, labyrinth, wilderness, jungle, involution, raveling, entanglement, coil, sleave, tangled skein, knot, Gordian knot, wheels within wheels, kink, gnarl, knarl, webwork, difficulty, gnarled, knarled, complex, complexed, intricate, complicated, perplexed, involved, raveled, entangled, knotted, tangled, inextricable, irreducible.Number
N number, symbol, numeral, figure, cipher, digit, integer, counter, round number, formula, function, series, sum, difference, complement, subtrahend, product, multiplicand, multiplier, multiplicator, coefficient, multiple, dividend, divisor, factor, quotient, submultiple, fraction, rational number, surd, irrational number, transcendental number, mixed number, complex number, complex conjugate, numerator, denominator, decimal, circulating decimal, repetend, common measure, aliquot part, prime number, prime, relative prime, prime factor, prime pair, reciprocal, totient, binary number, octal number, hexadecimal number, permutation, combination, variation, election, ratio, proportion, comparison, progression, arithmetical progression, geometrical progression, harmonical progression, percentage, permilage, figurate numbers, pyramidal numbers, polygonal numbers, power, root, exponent, index, logarithm, antilogarithm, modulus, base, differential, integral, fluxion, fluent, numeral, complementary, divisible, aliquot, reciprocal, prime, relatively prime, fractional, decimal, figurate, incommensurable, proportional, exponential, logarithmic, logometric, differential, fluxional, integral, totitive, positive, negative, rational, irrational, surd, radical, real, complex, imaginary, finite, infinite, impossible, numerically, modulo.For further exploring for "complex" in Webster Dictionary Online