knottier

Adjective

knotty (comparative knottier or more knotty, superlative knottiest or most knotty)

1. Of string or something stringlike: full of, or tied up, in knots.
   • I could a Tale vnfold, vvhoſe lighteſt vvord / VVould harrovv vp thy ſoule, freeze thy young blood, / Make thy tvvo eyes like Starres, ſtart from their Spheres, / Thy knotty and combined locks to part, / And each particular haire to ſtand an end, / Like Quilles vpon the fretfull Porpentine: […]c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
2. Of a part of the body, a tree, etc.: full of knots (knobs or swellings); gnarled, knobbly.
   • a knotty pine
3. (figuratively) Complicated or tricky; complex, difficult.
   • a knotty problem

   Synonyms:

   intricate, thorny, complex, complexed, complicate, complicated, convoluted, Gordian, involute, involutional

   Antonyms:

   simple, uncomplicated

4. (figuratively) Of an austere or hard nature; rugged.
   • [A] witte in youth, that is not ouer dulle, heauie, knottie and lumpiſhe, but hard, rough, and though ſomwhat ſtaffiſhe, […] ſuch a witte I ſay, if it be, at the firſt well handled by the mother, and rightlie ſmothed and wrought as it ſhould, not ouerwhartlie, and against the wood, by the...a. 1569 (date written), Roger Ascham, “The First Booke for the Youth [Teachyng the Brynging vp of Youth]”, in Margaret Ascham, editor, The Scholemaster: Or Plaine and Perfite Way of Teaching...