complexity

/kəmˈplɛksədi/

/kəmˈplɛksɪti/

Other forms: complexities

Is the movie simple or does it have lots of plot twists and intricate relationships between characters? If the latter is true, the movie's complexity makes it hard to understand.

When you see the word complexity, think of something with a lot of pieces, something not easy to put into words or understand. Things that can have complexity include: the events leading up to the American Civil War, a broth made with many ingredients, your relationship with your parents. Complexity is the opposite of simplicity. When something has a lot of complexity, you say it is complex. When it has very little complexity, it is simple.

Definitions of complexity

1. noun

   the quality of being intricate and compounded
   “he enjoyed the complexity of modern computers”

   synonyms: complexness

   antonyms:

   simplicity

   the quality of being simple or uncompounded

   types:

   complicatedness, complication, knottiness, tortuousness

   puzzling complexity

   elaborateness, elaboration, intricacy, involution

   the quality of being marked by elaborately complex detail

   tapestry

   something that resembles a tapestry in its complex pictorial designs

   trickiness

   the quality of requiring skill or caution

   type of:

   quality

   an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone