labyrinthine
/ˌlab.əˈɹɪn.θʌɪn//ˌlæb.əˈɹɪn.θɪn/
labyrinthine adjective: physically resembling a labyrinth; with the qualities of a maze.
Adjective
labyrinthine (comparative more labyrinthine, superlative most labyrinthine)
- Physically resembling a labyrinth; with the qualities of a maze.
- As our train to Paris dashed through the labyrynthine flyovers at Porchefontaine, barely a mile from Versailles, the 75 m.p.h. limit was already almost attained.1961 November, H. G. Ellison, P. G. Barlow, “Journey through France: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, volume 14, number 158, page 670
- In the pyloric canal, muscular ridges are more fixed than elsewhere and produce quite a labyrinthine surface.1996, Venkataraman Srinivasan, André Dubois, “Non-Human Primates”, in Steen Lindkær Jensen, Hans Gregerson, Mohammad Hosein Shokouh-Amin, Frank G. Moody, editors, Essentials of Experimental Surgery...
- Relating to the labyrinth of the inner ear.
- Convoluted, baffling, confusing, perplexing.
- Mamet, like one of his characters, invents a labyrinthine, convoluted spiel leading nowhere, and like a magician distracts us with his words while elaborately not producing a rabbit from his hat.1996 September 13, Roger Ebert, “American Buffalo movie review (1996)”, in Roger Ebert
- Any attempt to answer that question would carry us into the labyrinthine corridors of Jefferson's famously elusive mind.2000, Joseph Ellis, Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, page 51
- Synonyms:
- baffling, confusing, convoluted
labyrinthine meaning in Hindi, Urdu and Malayalam
labyrinthine in Hindi
- twisting, convoluted, baffling
- पेचीदा pecīdā
labyrinthine in Urdu
- پیچیدہ
labyrinthine in Malayalam
- winding, maze-like, twisting
- ദുർഘടമാർഗ്ഗങ്ങളുള്ള, കൂടിക്കുഴഞ്ഞ, നൂലാമാലയായ, ചുറ്റിവളഞ്ഞുപോകുന്ന, രാവണൻകോട്ടപോലെയുള്ള, കുടിലമാർഗ്ഗമായ
- complex, intricate, complicated
- സങ്കീർണ്ണമായ, കുഴഞ്ഞ, കൂടിക്കുഞ്ഞ, കുഴപ്പംപിടിച്ച, ദുർഘട, കൂടിപ്പിണഞ്ഞ
Examples of labyrinthine in a sentence
- Crane trotted along the labyrinthine corridors of deck 3, accompanied by a young marine with close-cropped blond hair.2011, Lincoln Child, Deep Storm, section 29, page 185:
- By coupling "essence" with "name" within a series of contraposed pairs of names, Socrates indicates the point to which he thinks his labyrinthine argument has led so far in the Cratylus.2005, Michael W. Riley, Plato's Cratylus: Argument, Form, and Structure, page 103:
- Northrop Frye called the novel “a kind of ‘midrash’ on the book of Job,” one that reimagines the opaque nature of divine justice as a labyrinthine modern bureaucracy.2021, Meghan O'Gieblyn, chapter 12, in God, Human, Animal, Machine […] , →ISBN:
Synonyms of labyrinthine
- labyrinthal
- labyrinthean
- labyrinthed
- labyrinthial
- labyrinthian
- labyrinthic
- labyrinthical
- labyrinthiform
- labyrinthlike
- baffling
2 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of labyrinthine
| comparative | more labyrinthine |
|---|---|
| superlative | most labyrinthine |
Origin of labyrinthine
From labyrinth + -ine from Ancient Greek λᾰβύρῐνθος (lăbúrĭnthos, “a maze”).
Words formed from labyrinthine
Phrases with labyrinthine
Words that rhyme with labyrinthine
Questions about labyrinthine
- What does labyrinthine mean?
- Labyrinthine means physically resembling a labyrinth; with the qualities of a maze.
- What is labyrinthine in Hindi?
- Labyrinthine in Hindi is पेचीदा (pecīdā). See Labyrinthine meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use labyrinthine in a sentence?
- Crane trotted along the labyrinthine corridors of deck 3, accompanied by a young marine with close-cropped blond hair.
- What part of speech is labyrinthine?
- Labyrinthine is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce labyrinthine?
- Labyrinthine is pronounced /ˌlab.əˈɹɪn.θʌɪn/ (UK).
Words near labyrinthine in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: labyrinthine (page history and authors); labyrinthine (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); labyrinthine (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-labyrinthine.wav, en-us-labyrinthine.ogg.
Cite this entry: “labyrinthine.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/labyrinthine. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.