Word.ws English Dictionary

complex

Syllables: com·plex/ˈkɒmplɛks//kɑmˈplɛks/

complex adjective: made up of multiple parts; composite; not simple.

Adjective

complex (comparative more complex or (nonstandard) complexer, superlative most complex or (nonstandard) complexest)

  1. Made up of multiple parts; composite; not simple.
    • a complex being; a complex idea
    • The human body is a complex system made up of many layers.
  2. Not simple, easy, or straightforward; complicated.
    • If, when the actual motions of the heavens are calculated in the best possible way, the process is complex and difficult, and if we are discontented at this, nature, and not the astronomer, must be the object of our displeasure.1837, William Whewell, “Inductive Epoch of Hipparchus”, in History of the Inductive Sciences, from the Earliest to the Present Times. […], volume I, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […]; Cambridge...
  3. Having the form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and i is (by definition) the imaginary square root of −1.
    • complex number
    • function of a complex variable
  4. Whose range is a subset of the complex numbers.
    • complex function
  5. Whose coefficients are complex numbers; defined over the field of complex numbers.
    • complex polynomial
    • complex algebraic variety
  6. A curve, polygon or other figure that crosses or intersects itself.

Noun

complex (plural complexes or (nonstandard) complices)

  1. A network of interconnected systems.
    • military–industrial complex
  2. A collection of buildings with a common purpose, such as a university or military base.
    • The south polar region of Promethei Planum developed a Bermuda Triangle reputation. Satellites detected intermittent mass concentrations and magnetic field shifts. In 2148, prospectors working near Deseado Crater discovered an underground complex: a Prothean observation post. The odd phenomena were...2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Protheans: Mars Ruins Codex entry
    • A man at the complex said he had seen the often heavily made-up girls coming and going in luxury vehicles.2021 February 6, The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, page 4, column 1
  3. An assemblage of related things; a collection.
    • This parable of the wedding supper comprehends in it the whole complex of all the blessings and privileges exhibited by the gospel.1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London
    1. An organized cluster of thunderstorms.
    2. A cluster of wildfires burning in the same vicinity.
      • The fire complex began as two separate fires.
      • As of early Wednesday, there were at least 25 major wildfires and fire complexes, the term given to multiple fires in a single geographic area, burning in California, Christine McMorrow, a Cal Fire information officer, said.2020 September 16, “Millions of acres burn in California as weather improves in Northwest.”, in The New York Times, retrieved 16 Sep 2020
    3. A group of closely related species, often distinguished only with difficulty by traditional morphological methods.
      • Since then, a good deal of research has documented and concluded that the nominal species A. fraterculus actually comprises an unresolved complex of cryptic species.2015 November 26, Mosè Manni et al., “Relevant genetic differentiation among Brazilian populations of Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera, Tephritidae)”, in ZooKeys, volume 540, →DOI
  4. A group of emotionally charged ideas or mental factors, unconsciously associated by the individual with a particular subject, arising from repressed instincts, fears, or desires and often resulting in mental abnormality.
    • Jim has a real complex about working for a woman boss.
    Synonyms:
    constellation
    1. A fixed mental tendency or obsession.
  5. A structure consisting of a central atom or molecule weakly connected to surrounding atoms or molecules, as for example coordination compounds in inorganic chemistry and protein complexes in biochemistry.
    • Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis:[…]. The evolutionary precursor of photosynthesis is still under debate, and a new study sheds light. The critical component of the photosynthetic system is the “water-oxidizing complex”, made up of...2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist
  6. A complex number.
    • The interesting aspect here is that U₃ is irreducible, even though all irreps over the complexes are one-dimensional because ℤ₄ is abelian.1996, Barry Simon, Representations of Finite and Compact Groups, page 50
  7. A multimorphemic word, one with several parts, one with affixes.

Verb

complex (third-person singular simple present complexes, present participle complexing, simple past and past participle complexed)

  1. (intransitive) To form a complex with another substance.
  2. (transitive) To complicate.

complex meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

complex in Hindi

in mathematics
समिश्र samiśra
intricate
जटिल jaṭil
not simple or straightforward
जटिल jaṭil
psychologically based dislike or fear
मनोग्रंथि manogranthi

complex in Tamil

வளாகம், மனப்பான்மை, சிக்கலான, பலக்கிய

complex in Urdu

in mathematics
مَخْلُوط maxlūt

complex in Bengali

complex
জটিল joṭil
More languagesFewer languages
complex in Telugu
సంక్లిష్టమైన saṅkliṣṭamaina
complex in Malayalam
സങ്കീർണ്ണമായ saṅkīṟṇṇamāya, സമുച്ചയം samuccayaṁ
complex in Kannada
ಸಂಕೀರ್ಣ, ಸಮಷ್ಟಿ, ಅನೇಕ ಭಾಗಗಳು ಕೂಡಿ ಆದದ್ದು, ಸಂಕೀರ್ಣತೆ
complex in Punjabi
ਗੁੰਝਲ਼ਦਾਰ guñjhḷadār, گنجھلدار guṉjhaḷdār, اوکھا aukhā, ਔਖਾ aukhā
complex in Tagalog
masalimuot
complex in Arabic
مَعْقِد maʕqid, عُقْدَة ʕuqda
complex in Malay
rumit, kompleks
complex in Indonesian
rumit, kompleks
complex in Persian
عقده oqde, همتافت hamtāft
complex in Thai
เชิงซ้อน chəəng-sɔ́ɔn, ซับซ้อน sáp-sɔ́ɔn
complex in Vietnamese
phức tạp, mặc cảm, phức cảm

Examples of complex in a sentence

  • Ideas thus made up of several simple ones put together, I call complex; such as beauty, gratitude, a man, an army, the universe.1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 2, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for...
  • In 2148, prospectors working near Deseado Crater discovered an underground complex: a Prothean observation post.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Protheans: Mars Ruins Codex entry:
  • The critical component of the photosynthetic system is the “water-oxidizing complex”, made up of manganese atoms and a calcium atom.2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist:

All 40 example sentences with complex

Synonyms of complex

11 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

10 more antonymsFewer antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of complex

Forms of complex

Adjective
comparativemore complex
superlativemost complex
comparative (nonstandard)complexer
superlative (nonstandard)complexest
Noun
pluralcomplexes
plural (nonstandard)complices
Verb
third-person singular presentcomplexes
present participlecomplexing
past participlecomplexed
pastcomplexed

Plural of complex: complexes

Origin of complex

From French complexe, from Latin complexus, past participle of complector (“to entwine, encircle, compass, infold”), from com- (“together”) and plectō (“to weave, braid”). May be analyzed as com- + -plex. See complect. Doublet of complexus.

Words formed from complex

Phrases with complex

90 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with complex

35 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about complex

What does complex mean?
Complex means made up of multiple parts; composite; not simple.
What is complex in Hindi?
Complex in Hindi is समिश्र (samiśra), जटिल (jaṭil), मनोग्रंथि (manogranthi). See Complex meaning in Hindi.
How do you use complex in a sentence?
Ideas thus made up of several simple ones put together, I call complex; such as beauty, gratitude, a man, an army, the universe.
What part of speech is complex?
Complex can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce complex?
Complex is pronounced /ˈkɒmplɛks/ (UK).

Words near complex in the dictionary

  1. completively
  2. completives
  3. completo
  4. completories
  5. completory
  6. complex
  7. complex analysis
  8. complex compound
  9. complex compounds
  10. complex conjugate
  11. complex conjugate root theorem

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: complex (page history and authors); complex (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); জটিল (Bengali) (page history and authors); complex (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); اوکھا (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-complex.ogg, En-us-complex-adj.ogg.

Cite this entry: “complex.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/complex. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.