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Complicate vs Tangle - What's the difference?

complicate | tangle |

In lang=en terms the difference between complicate and tangle

is that complicate is to expose involvement in a convoluted matter while tangle is to catch and hold.

As verbs the difference between complicate and tangle

is that complicate is to fold or twist together; to combine intricately; to make complex; to combine or associate so as to make intricate or difficult while tangle is to become mixed together or intertwined.

As an adjective complicate

is (obsolete) intertwined.

As a noun tangle is

a tangled twisted mass or tangle can be any large type of seaweed, especially a species of laminaria .

complicate

English

Verb

(complicat)
  • To fold or twist together; to combine intricately; to make complex; to combine or associate so as to make intricate or difficult.
  • Don't complicate yourself in issues that are beyond the scope of your education.
  • to expose involvement in a convoluted matter.
  • John has been complicated in the affair by new tapes that surfaced.
    The DA has made every effort to complicate me in the scandal.

    Synonyms

    * (expose involvement in a convoluted matter) intricate, entangle, embroil, mix up (in something), mire

    See also

    * complex

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) Intertwined.
  • Complex, complicated.
  • * 1745 , Edward Young, Night-Thoughts , I:
  • How poor, how rich, how abject, how august, / How complicate , how wonderful, is Man!

    tangle

    English

    (wikipedia tangle)

    Etymology 1

    Origin uncertain; apparently a variant form of (tagle).

    Verb

    (tangl)
  • to become mixed together or intertwined
  • Her hair was tangled from a day in the wind.
  • to be forced into some kind of situation
  • to enter into an argument, conflict, dispute, or fight
  • Don't tangle with someone three times your size.
    He tangled with the law.
  • to mix together or intertwine
  • to catch and hold
  • * Milton
  • Tangled in amorous nets.
  • * Crashaw
  • When my simple weakness strays, / Tangled in forbidden ways.
    Synonyms
    * (to become mixed together or intertwined) dishevel, tousle * (to be forced into some kind of situation) drag, drag in, embroil, sweep, sweep up * argue, conflict, dispute, fight * (to mix together or intertwine) entangle, knot, mat, snarl * (to catch and hold) entrap
    Antonyms
    * (to mix together or intertwine) untangle, unsnarl

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A tangled twisted mass.
  • A complicated or confused state or condition.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Boundary problems , passage=Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.}}
  • An argument, conflict, dispute, or fight.
  • (mathematics) A region of the projection of a knot such that the knot crosses its perimeter exactly four times.
  • Synonyms
    * (tangled twisted mass) knot, mess, snarl * (complicated or confused state or condition) maze, snarl * argument, conflict, dispute, fight

    Etymology 2

    Of Scandinavian origin; compare Norwegian tongul, Faroese tongul, Icelandic .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Any large type of seaweed, especially a species of Laminaria .
  • * 1849 , , In Memoriam , 10:
  • Than if with thee the roaring wells / Should gulf him fathom-deep in brine; / And hands so often clasped in mine, / Should toss with tangle and with shells.
  • (in the plural) An instrument consisting essentiallly of an iron bar to which are attached swabs, or bundles of frayed rope, or other similar substances, used to capture starfishes, sea urchins, and other similar creatures living at the bottom of the sea.