Complicated describes something that has many parts or steps and is hard to understand or deal with. It often takes extra time and effort to figure out.
From Latin 'complicātus', the past participle of 'complicāre' meaning 'folded together'. English adopted it to describe things that are so folded or tangled that they are difficult to sort out.
If you imagine a bunch of wires twisted together in a knot, that’s what 'complicated' really is: many simple things tangled into one confusing mess. A powerful trick in learning is to 'unfold' the complicated back into simple pieces you can handle.
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