complication

CEFRB1

/ˌkɒm.plɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A problem that makes a situation more difficult.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A person who doesn't fit in with the main scheme of things; an interloper.

Examples

  • The bad weather added a further complication to our journey.

  • We have a complication here.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
4

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The state of being complicated; intricate or confused relation of parts; complexity.

  2. The act or process of complicating.

  3. A disease or diseases, or adventitious circumstances or conditions, coexistent with and modifying a primary disease, but not necessarily connected with it.

More examples

In context

  • There's been a complication.

  • Obsessed, he was after a watch that contained the greatest number of complications in the boldest combinations in the smallest space imaginable.

  • In their final year, each student must make their own watch with a complication—from a tourbillon to a chiming mode to having a date display.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

A sudden blank arose during the surgery last night.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Borrowed from Middle French complication, from Latin complicatio, complicationem. Morphologically complicate + -ion.