convoluted

adj

1. Having numerous overlapping coils or folds; convolute.

   “[B]y the means of theſe hooks, and Spikes it [a tapeworm in the intestines] might faſten it ſelf, and ſo prevent it's too eaſy ejection out of the body. For it being ſo very long, and large too, and it's body in many places winding, and convoluted, the deſcent of the fæces upon all occaſions would be apt to carry it out with them; had it not this hold, [...]”

   “The figure [of the constellation Anguilla] is that of the common eel in that convoluted ſtate in which it is uſually ſeen when in motion.”

   “Petals five, generally reflected, the three exterior ovate, hollowed; the two interior longer and convoluted.”

   “The great mass of cloud filling the head of the gulf had long red smears amongst its convoluted folds of grey and black, as of a floating mantle stained with blood.”

2. (figuratively)Complex, complicated, or intricate.

   “He gave a convoluted explanation that amounted to little more than a weak excuse for his absence.”

   “There is a convoluted cypher which designates the name and titles of the Sultan, contained in a single complicated figure, which is seen on the coins of the empire, and on all public edifices.”

   “The river Meander [now the Büyük Menderes River] is perhaps the most celebrated of all antiquity, and has been made a generic term, in most languages, to designate a winding stream; [...] It afforded Dædalus the model for his labyrinth, and travellers have discovered in many parts the various accurate outlines of some of the most convoluted letters of the Greek alphabet.”

   “[H]e [Herschel Prins] has a very special talent for making convoluted and tortured topics clear. Clarity rarely enhances one's academic reputation, for there is little left to argue about. Clarity, however, appeals to readers, for they can begin to understand a subject which the experts have begun to claim.”

   “The plots of Mission: Impossible movies tend to be convoluted but negligible, really only there to provide connective tissue between jaw-dropping set pieces.”

verb

1. (form-of, participle, past)simple past and past participle of convolute