complex
Forms
- Comparative
- more complex
- Superlative
- most complex
- Plural
- complexes
Definitions
1.Made up of multiple parts; composite; not simple.
- The human body is a complex system made up of many layers.
- Ideas thus made up of several simple ones put together, I call complex; such as beauty, gratitude, a man, an army, the universe.
2.Not simple, easy, or straightforward; complicated.
3.Having the form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and i is (by definition) the imaginary square root of −1.
4.Whose range is a subset of the complex numbers.
1.A network of interconnected systems.
2.A collection of buildings with a common purpose, such as a university or military base.
- A man at the complex said he had seen the often heavily made-up girls coming and going in luxury vehicles.
3.An assemblage of related things; a collection.
- The fire complex began as two separate fires.
- This parable of the wedding supper comprehends in it the whole complex of all the blessings and privileges exhibited by the gospel.
- Since then, a good deal of research has documented and concluded that the nominal species A. fraterculus actually comprises an unresolved complex of cryptic species.
4.A group of emotionally charged ideas or mental factors, unconsciously associated by the individual with a particular subject, arising from repressed instincts, fears, or desires and often resulting in mental abnormality.
- Jim has a real complex about working for a woman boss.
Frequency
Overall
Common· #1758
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Common
- Academic
- Uncommon
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Etymology
From French complexe, from Latin complexus, past participle of complector (“to entwine, encircle, compass, infold”), from com- (“together”) and plectō (“to weave, braid”).
May be analyzed as com- + -plex.
See complect.
Doublet of complexus.