Complicate
Complicate verb - To make complex or difficult.
Set up and complicate are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Set up" instead a verb "Complicate".
Set up
Set up verb - To arrange something in a certain spot or position.
Complicate and set up are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Complicate" instead a verb "Set up".
Both terms in one sentence
- Picard and Riker quickly deduce that the rather uneventful assignment was set up just to keep Picard away from the battle and from letting his intimate history with the Borg complicate the fight.
Source: Go Look at the Distraction - To complicate matters, the local police are also investigating the medium, for suspected blackmailing, and Hetty helps them set up a sting operation by fabricating a scandalous story about her "dead" husband's illegitimate child.
Source: Phony Psychic
Cite this Source
Set up and Complicate. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 22, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/complicate/set_up
Complicate & Set up. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/complicate/set_up>.
Set up or Complicate. 2016. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/complicate/set_up.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "complicate" and "set up" have occurred on timeline