COMPLICATING Synonyms: 44 Similar and Opposite Words

complicating

verb

present participle of complicate

as in intensifying

to make complex or difficult the need to go to both a PTA conference and condo board meeting really complicates tonight's schedule

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in deepening

to make more severe asthma that has recently been complicated by a bout of bronchitis

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of complicating In recent years, homeowners, developers and businesses have complained that navigating the Planning Department can be complicating and confusing. — Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026 Hypersonic weapons can operate between these regimes, potentially complicating detection and interception. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 27 Sep. 2026 The strikes marked a sharp escalation in fighting between the two South Asian countries and risked further complicating international efforts to ease tensions between Islamabad and Kabul. — Munir Ahmed, Arkansas Online, 26 Sep. 2026 His appearances often attracted protests, further complicating his security. — ABC News, 25 Sep. 2026 That’s complicating an already complex business stack and forcing businesses to rethink their architecture, Fey said. — Samantha Subin, CNBC, 24 Sep. 2026 Hollywood is stereotypically seen as an industry beloved and supported by liberal politicians, but the current push for a federal film and television tax credit is complicating that typical portrait. — Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 23 Sep. 2026 Further complicating the picture, the hyperscalers are increasingly turning to the bond market to help finance their enormous costs. — Bryan Mena, CNN Money, 14 Sep. 2026 For some, your work and public image could collide with other personal desires, potentially complicating the vibe. — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 10 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for complicating

Verb

DeepSeek's decision to open up to external funding was seen as a sign of AI's ballooning capital demand and mounting pressure to retain talent amid intensifying competition.

— Anniek Bao, CNBC, 6 Oct. 2026
Why Security Is Becoming Structural, Not Optional AI’s cyber risk is also intensifying.

— Girish Joshi, Forbes.com, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of intensifying

Verb

Poor provenance leads to weak training assumptions, brittle behavior, eroded trust, more friction and slower deployment, with each turn deepening the problem rather than correcting it.

— Richard Clough, Forbes.com, 5 Oct. 2026
Washington must avoid worsening its own demographic problems through the kind of self-defeating policies that are deepening China’s struggle.

— Carl Minzner, Foreign Affairs, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of deepening

Verb

Gibson Nash, 21, was charged with first-degree murder after a series of perplexing events eventually led police to his mother’s bloodied body.

— Natasha Holt, FOXNews.com, 9 Aug. 2026
But there were also perplexing moments that punctured the gravitas of the event (even for an event built around hand-to-hand combat).

— Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 15 June 2026

Definition of perplexing

Verb

If your neck pain is chronic, worsening or accompanied by other symptoms, that’s a conversation for a doctor or physical therapist, not a problem a vibrating neckband is going to solve.

— Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 7 Oct. 2026
But oil revenue has been particularly constrained by theft and pipeline vandalism that has cost the country about $300 billion in recent years, compounding in a worsening security crisis that has hampered the overall economy.

— Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of worsening

Verb

But the Yanks are hot after embarrassing Boston with 9-0 and 9-2 victories in the Wild Card round.

— Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 2 Oct. 2026
Things escalate as the two share a car ride home from a fancy gala and the bad man yells at her for embarrassing him.

— Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of embarrassing

Verb

And those are things that end up aggravating behavioral health disabilities.

— Joseph Shapiro, NPR, 30 Sep. 2026
With Williams dealing with an injury that’s always tricky for players in this league, there’s no reason to rush him back and risk aggravating it again.

— Scott Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of aggravating

Verb

Immigrant parents there wanted help writing to their kids’ teachers and making sense of confusing forms.

— Steven Choi, New York Daily News, 4 Oct. 2026
Critics say the requirements have been confusing and difficult for many voters to meet, potentially leaving millions off the registration lists and unable to vote.

— ABC News, ABC News, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of confusing

Verb

Conservatives shuddered to think how close the country had come to permanent entangling alliances.

— Beverly Gage, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
By entangling 30 logical qubits in a single, coherent quantum state, Infleqtion has validated the core architecture of its Sqale hardware and Superstaq software, on its roadmap to deliver 100 logical qubits by 2028.

— Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 25 Sep. 2026

Definition of entangling

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complicates

complicating

complication

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“Complicating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/complicating. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of complicating

verb

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