Complex
Complex adjective - Having many parts or aspects that are usually interrelated.
Usage example: complex issues regarding free speech and school discipline
Intricate is a synonym for complex in complicated topic. In some cases you can use "Intricate" instead an adjective "Complex", when it comes to topics like property, simple, difficult to understand. popular alternative
Intricate
Intricate adjective - Having many parts or aspects that are usually interrelated.
Usage example: an intricate machine that requires some training to use it properly
Complex is a synonym for intricate in complicated topic. You can use "Complex" instead the word "Intricate" as an adjective or a noun, if it concerns topics such as characteristic, property, composite, simple. popular alternative
Nearby Words: intricacy, intricately
Mutual synonyms
Related pairs
Both words in one sentence
- Really high-tier magic requires complex and intricate magic circles to be drawn in addition to invocations.
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Often features smooth pans across ultra-glossy exteriors, a sequence of parts moving in intricate and complex patterns, lingering close-ups of key components, or highly detailed descriptions and diagrams of how a device is put together.
Source: Technology Porn - Bee People: Hivers, with a complex and intricate society of independently conscious but very family-oriented eusocial insectoids.
Source: Standard Sci-Fi Setting
Cite this Source
Intricate and Complex. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 15, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/complex/intricate
Complex & Intricate. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/complex/intricate>.
Intricate or Complex. 2016. Accessed August 15, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/complex/intricate.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "complex" and "intricate" have occurred on timeline