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Adjective: complex  'kóm,pleks
  1. Complicated in structure; consisting of interconnected parts
    "a complex set of variations based on a simple folk melody"; "a complex mass of diverse laws and customs"
     
  2. Difficult to analyse or understand
    "he's more complex than he seems on the surface";
    - complicated
     
  3. (mathematics) having values of the form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and i is the square root of -1; not purely real
Noun: complex  'kóm,pleks
  1. A conceptual whole made up of complicated and related parts
    "the complex of shopping malls, houses, and roads created a new town";
    - composite
     
  2. A compound described in terms of the central atom to which other atoms are bound or coordinated
    - coordination compound
     
  3. (psychoanalysis) a combination of emotions and impulses that have been rejected from awareness but still influence a person's behaviour
     
  4. A whole structure (as a building) made up of interconnected or related structures
    - building complex
Verb: complex  'kóm,pleks
  1. (chemistry) form a complex with another substance

Derived forms: complexing, complexes, complexed

See also: analysable [Brit, Cdn], analyzable [N. Amer], Byzantine, colonial, complexity, complexness, composite, compound, convoluted, daedal, decomposable, difficult, Gordian, hard, interlacing, interlinking, interlocking, interwoven, intricate, involved, knotty, labyrinthian, labyrinthine, mazy, multifactorial, multiplex, tangled, thickening, tortuous

Type of: chemical compound, compound, construction, feeling, structure, whole

Antonym: simple

Encyclopedia: Complex