knotty

/ˈnɑdi/

Other forms: knottiest; knottier; knottily

Whether it’s pine or problems, sometimes the word knotty can apply to both. Knotty can describe something that has a lot of knots, either literally or figuratively.

The adjective knotty is a way to describe something that’s covered in knots. It can be used in a literal sense to refer to wood that is covered in hard, irregular knots — you’ve probably seen these circular, knobby imperfections that sometime appear on wood. The word can also be used figuratively to describe something that is intricate and difficult to solve, such as a knotty political problem involving two warring nations or a knotty legal issue involving complicated constitutional issues.

Definitions of knotty

1. adjective

   tangled in knots or snarls
   synonyms: snarled, snarly

   tangled

   in a confused mass
2. adjective

   used of old persons or old trees; covered with knobs or knots
   synonyms: gnarled, gnarly, knobbed, knotted

   crooked

   having or marked by bends or angles; not straight or aligned
3. adjective

   making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe
   “I faced the knotty problem of what to have for breakfast”

   synonyms: baffling, elusive, problematic, problematical, tough

   difficult, hard

   not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
4. adjective

   highly complex or intricate and occasionally devious
   “a knotty problem”

   synonyms: Byzantine, convoluted, involved, tangled, tortuous

   complex

   complicated in structure; consisting of interconnected parts