labyrinthine

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
20
Words With Friends
22
Letters
12
Pronunciation
/ˌlab.əˈɹɪn.θʌɪn/
See all 4 pronunciations
/ˌlab.əˈɹɪn.θʌɪn/ · /ˌlæb.əˈɹɪn.θɪn/ · /ˌlæb.əˈɹɪnˌθaɪn/ · /ˌlæb.əˈɹɪnˌθin/

Definition of labyrinthine

3 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

adj

  1. Physically resembling a labyrinth; with the qualities of a maze.
    “As our train to Paris dashed through the labyrynthine flyovers at Porchefontaine, barely a mile from Versailles, the 75 m.p.h. limit was already almost attained.”
    “In the pyloric canal, muscular ridges are more fixed than elsewhere and produce quite a labyrinthine surface.”
    “Crane trotted along the labyrinthine corridors of deck 3, accompanied by a young marine with close-cropped blond hair.”
See all 3 definitions

adj

  1. Physically resembling a labyrinth; with the qualities of a maze.
    “As our train to Paris dashed through the labyrynthine flyovers at Porchefontaine, barely a mile from Versailles, the 75 m.p.h. limit was already almost attained.”
    “In the pyloric canal, muscular ridges are more fixed than elsewhere and produce quite a labyrinthine surface.”
    “Crane trotted along the labyrinthine corridors of deck 3, accompanied by a young marine with close-cropped blond hair.”
  2. Relating to the labyrinth of the inner ear.
  3. (figuratively)Convoluted, baffling, confusing, perplexing.
    “Mamet, like one of his characters, invents a labyrinthine, convoluted spiel leading nowhere, and like a magician distracts us with his words while elaborately not producing a rabbit from his hat.”
    “Any attempt to answer that question would carry us into the labyrinthine corridors of Jefferson's famously elusive mind.”
    “By coupling "essence" with "name" within a series of contraposed pairs of names, Socrates indicates the point to which he thinks his labyrinthine argument has led so far in the Cratylus.”
    “Northrop Frye called the novel “a kind of ‘midrash’ on the book of Job,” one that reimagines the opaque nature of divine justice as a labyrinthine modern bureaucracy.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From labyrinth + -ine from Ancient Greek λᾰβύρῐνθος (lăbúrĭnthos, “a maze”).

Words you can make from labyrinthine

200+ playable · top: BREATHILY (17 pts)

Best play breathily 17 points

9-letter words

8 words

8-letter words

14 words

7-letter words

64 words

6-letter words

113 words

Find your best play with labyrinthine

See every word you can make from a set of letters that includes labyrinthine, or browse word lists you can mine for high-scoring plays.