| Intricate | a. [ 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. [ 1913 Webster ] His style was fit to convey the most intricate business to the understanding with the utmost clearness. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ] The nature of man is intricate. Burke. 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. [ 1913 Webster ] |
