intricate

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.tɹɪ.kət/

• Audio (US)

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Adjective

intricate (comparative more intricate, superlative most intricate)

1. Having a great deal of fine detail or complexity.

   The architecture of this clock is very intricate.

   • Joseph Addison (1672–1719)

     His style was fit to convey the most intricate business to the understanding with the utmost clearness.

   • 1907, Robert William Chambers, chapter V, in The Younger Set (Project Gutenberg; EBook #14852), New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, published 1 February 2005 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 24962326:

     As a matter of fact its narrow ornate façade presented not a single quiet space that the eyes might rest on after a tiring attempt to follow and codify the arabesques, foliations, and intricate vermiculations of what some disrespectfully dubbed as “near-aissance.”

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.tɹɪ.keɪt/

Verb

intricate (third-person singular simple present intricates, present participle intricating, simple past and past participle intricated)

1. (intransitive) To become enmeshed or entangled.
   • 1864 October 18, J.E. Freund, “How to Avoid the Use of Lint”, letter to the editor, in The New York Times (1864 October 23):

     […] washes off easily, without sticking or intricating into the wound.

2. (transitive) To enmesh or entangle: to cause to intricate.
   • 1994 December 12, William Safire, “Avoid Dunkirk II” (essay), in The New York Times:

     But the British and French won't hear of that; they want to get their troops extricated and our ground troops intricated.