knotty
adjective
Synonyms
- baroque
- byzantine
- complex
- complicate
- complicated
- convoluted
- daedal
- elaborate
- intricate
- involute
- involved
- labyrinthian
- labyrinthine
- sophisticated
- tangled
Example Sentences
Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 25 July 2022 Consciousness presents a particularly knotty philosophical puzzle, and there is no easy consensus on how to define it, let alone prove its presence. Camille Bromley, The Atlantic, 18 July 2022 When these quickies started rolling in, Sears would work all night if necessary to attend to each knotty query. Catherine Musemeche, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 July 2022 There are also knotty questions of how to determine and uphold appropriate standards of minimum competence. Samuel Goldman, The Week, 14 July 2021 Directors like to shoot her in lingering closeups, her knotty, expressive face going blank with detachment or flashing with wildness, her eyes staring down her beaky nose like a pair of determined headlights. Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 29 Apr. 2022 Alfred narrowly escapes with his life and embarks on a harrowing yet transformative journey through the woods — and symbolically his dark and knotty mind — that forces him to untangle his conflicted feelings about fame. Darren Franich, EW.com, 22 Mar. 2022 The social fabric of Los Angeles is woven thick and knotty in Koreatown, and all the promises—and failures—of the city are intensified in the neighborhood. Steph Cha, Travel + Leisure, 26 Feb. 2022 And yet Native identity can itself be a knotty subject, perhaps especially so for artists. Susannah Gardiner, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Apr. 2022 See More Word History
13th century, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing knotty
Kids Definition
knotty
adjective
knotty
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- intricate
- complicated
- complicate
- complex
- tangled
- convoluted
- sophisticated
- byzantine
- labyrinthine
- labyrinthian
- baroque
- daedal
- elaborate
- involved
- difficult
- involute
- varied
- multifarious
- multifaceted
- composite
- heterogeneous
- compound
- challenging
- mixed
- multipart
- overcomplex
- overcomplicated
- unintelligible
- tough
- incomprehensible
- multibranched
- inexplicable
- unfathomable
- impenetrable
- Kafkaesque
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- plain
- uncomplicated
- simple
- noncomplex
- simplistic
- homogeneous
- noncomplicated
- uniform
- simplified
- oversimplified
- unvaried
Synonyms & Similar Words
- difficult
- tough
- sensitive
- complicated
- thorny
- problematic
- hairy
- delicate
- problem
- sticky
- problematical
- tricky
- touchy
- ticklish
- complex
- spiny
- prickly
- tricksy
- intricate
- nasty
- serious
- hard
- painful
- recondite
- abstruse
- vexing
- dodgy
- catchy
- troublesome
- abstract
- scabrous
- involved
- stubborn
- troublous
- vexatious
- worrisome
- burdensome
- oppressive
- inconvenient
- exhausting
- demanding
- onerous
- stressful
- importunate
- exacting
- discommoding
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- uncomplicated
- simple
- unproblematic
- straightforward
- painless
- effortless
- easy
- undemanding
- manageable
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of knotty are complex, complicated, intricate, and involved. While all these words mean "having confusingly interrelated parts," knotty suggests complication and entanglement that make solution or understanding improbable.
The meanings of complex and knotty largely overlap; however, complex suggests the unavoidable result of a necessary combining and does not imply a fault or failure.
While the synonyms complicated and knotty are close in meaning, complicated applies to what offers great difficulty in understanding, solving, or explaining.
The words intricate and knotty are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, intricate suggests such interlacing of parts as to make it nearly impossible to follow or grasp them separately.
The words involved and knotty can be used in similar contexts, but involved implies extreme complication and often disorder.