involved

adjective

in·​volved in-ˈvälvd 

-ˈvȯlvd,

 also  -ˈvävd,

 or  -ˈvȯvd

1

a

: having a part in something : included in something

unable to identify those who were involved

She was involved in a lawsuit.

b

: actively participating in something

an involved citizen active in local politics

c

: having a romantic or sexual relationship

warned her not to get romantically involved

2

a

: marked by extreme and often needless or excessive complexity

a long and involved story

b

: difficult to deal with because of complexity or disorder

Her husband had been extravagant; and at his death … had left his affairs dreadfully involved.

—Jane Austen

3

: being affected or implicated

… dealing with … the most severely involved patients

—R. J. Thomas

4

obsolete : involute, twisted

involvedly

in-ˈväl-vəd-lē 

-ˈvȯl-

 also  -ˈvä-vəd-

 or  -ˈvȯ-

adverb

Synonyms

• baroque
• byzantine
• complex
• complicate
• complicated
• convoluted
• daedal
• elaborate
• intricate
• involute
• knotty
• labyrinthian
• labyrinthine
• sophisticated
• tangled

Choose the Right Synonym for involved

complex, complicated, intricate, involved, knotty mean having confusingly interrelated parts.

complex suggests the unavoidable result of a necessary combining and does not imply a fault or failure.

a complex recipe

complicated applies to what offers great difficulty in understanding, solving, or explaining.

complicated legal procedures

intricate suggests such interlacing of parts as to make it nearly impossible to follow or grasp them separately.

an intricate web of deceit

involved implies extreme complication and often disorder.

a rambling, involved explanation

knotty suggests complication and entanglement that make solution or understanding improbable.

knotty ethical questions

Examples of involved in a Sentence

a long and involved story

The instructions for assembling the toy are very involved.

The process is quite involved.

Those of us who were involved knew exactly what happened.

Students who stay involved get more out of the program.

If you want to make things better, you need to get involved.

They quickly became romantically involved.

No one knew that they were involved.

Recent Examples on the Web

The third involved team, the Brooklyn Nets, will receive Hawks guard Terrance Mann, a Lowell native, and Atlanta’s first-round selection (No. 22 overall) in the 2025 NBA Draft. —Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 25 June 2025

Trump must now work to keep his MAGA supporters behind him, given his decision to attack Iran despite his campaign promise that the U.S. would not become involved in any more foreign wars. —Chloe Mayer, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 June 2025

And the head of Europe’s most valuable company is getting more involved in the continent’s debates about how to create tech companies that can compete against the strongest US and Chinese rivals in the coming years. —Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 20 June 2025

Developing a daguerreotype is an involved process, notes Ann Shumard, senior curator of photographs at the National Portrait Gallery. —Kaila Philo, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

from past participle of involve

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4

Phrases Containing involved

• self-involved

Rhymes for involved

• redissolved
• undissolved
• uninvolved
• unresolved
• absolved
• devolved
• dissolved
• evolved
• resolved
• revolved
• unsolved
• solved

Kids Definition

involved

adjective

in·​volved

: very complicated

a long and involved story