complication
/kɒmplɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n
/noun
1A circumstance that complicates something; a difficulty: there is a complication concerning ownership of the site...
- Without proper cover, difficulties become disasters and complications become crises.
- He says, however, that the questions about whether the supreme court is going to be a complication are difficult to answer because it's too soon.
- The process has also been stalled by complications over the ownership of ESB assets.
Synonyms
difficulty, problem, issue, obstacle, hurdle, stumbling block, barrier, impediment;
drawback, snag, catch, hitch
informal fly in the ointment, prob, headache, hiccup, facer
British informal spanner in the works
North American informal monkey wrench in the works
1.1 [mass noun] An involved or confused condition or state: to add further complication, English-speakers use a different name...
- I love complication but then again, that's my life.
- The fact that we had to walk half a mile through a near frozen pasture to reach the shed where Peanuts had been ensconced with mountains of hay and a trough of fresh water added another layer of complication.
- Of course, the immediate step is to embrace the sport of complication with academic fervour.
Synonyms
complexity, complicatedness, difficulty, intricacy, convolution, convolutedness, elaboration;
confusion, muddle
2 Medicine A secondary disease or condition aggravating an already existing one: she developed complications after the surgery...
- Of those, 818 have had diabetes at least 10 years and have developed kidney disease, a common complication of diabetes.
- What are the common symptoms and complications of diverticular disease?
- Myocarditis may develop as a complication of an infectious disease, usually caused by a virus.
Origin
Late Middle English: from late Latin complicatio(n-), from Latin complicare 'fold together' (see complicate).