adjective / noun · academic

complex

UK/ˈkɒmpleks/US/ˈkɑːmplɛks/COM·plex

Band 5-6task2speaking

adjective: consisting of many different and connected parts; noun: a group of buildings or a related set of things

Examples

The system is complex and requires careful planning.

They live in a residential complex near the university.

Solving the problem requires analysing several complex factors.

Band 8 sentence

Addressing climate change is a complex challenge that requires coordinated action across sectors.

Collocations

  • complex issue
  • housing complex

Word family

complicated adjectivecomplexity noun

Common mistakes

an complex problema complex problem

It is complexiousIt is complex / It is complicated

Say it for a higher band

5difficult6complicated7+complex

Synonyms

complicated

Easily confused

complicated

The instructions are very complicated; I couldn't follow them.

Related words

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In Sublist 4

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