as in complicated
having many parts or aspects that are usually interrelated
spent his first year at the Pentagon just trying to fathom its byzantine workings
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Recent Examples of byzantine
The long-form contract has become a byzantine artifact, a ritual of delay that benefits no one except perhaps the law firms billing hours on both ends.
—
George Heller, HollywoodReporter, 6 May 2026
Washington—what with its byzantine rules and aggressive gridlock—would not box him in.
—Philip Elliott, Time, 15 Apr. 2026
This byzantine corporate structure apparently did not exist until Altman devised it.
—Ronan Farrow, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
The utility has more than 2 million power and water customers and is governed by byzantine rules.
—ABC News, 6 Apr. 2026
The layout is byzantine in part because Paramount bought the former rival RKO studio lot from Desilu Productions to create the lot known today.
—Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2026
Enrigue is an erudite, charismatic raconteur—the sort who will tell you the most abject story with a wink—and his novel distills a byzantine swirl of historical events through the lives of a handful of very colorful characters.
—Carolina A. Miranda, The Atlantic, 5 Mar. 2026
The airline industry is a complex beast, and O’Hare is byzantine itself.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 4 Mar. 2026
Behind the scenes, Florida Division of Emergency Management officials had spent nearly half of last year navigating a byzantine process in an attempt to secure reimbursement for its immigration operations, according to the emails.
—Garrett Shanley, Miami Herald, 3 Mar. 2026
George Heller, HollywoodReporter, 6 May 2026
Washington—what with its byzantine rules and aggressive gridlock—would not box him in.
—Philip Elliott, Time, 15 Apr. 2026
This byzantine corporate structure apparently did not exist until Altman devised it.
—Ronan Farrow, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
The utility has more than 2 million power and water customers and is governed by byzantine rules.
—ABC News, 6 Apr. 2026
The layout is byzantine in part because Paramount bought the former rival RKO studio lot from Desilu Productions to create the lot known today.
—Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2026
Enrigue is an erudite, charismatic raconteur—the sort who will tell you the most abject story with a wink—and his novel distills a byzantine swirl of historical events through the lives of a handful of very colorful characters.
—Carolina A. Miranda, The Atlantic, 5 Mar. 2026
The airline industry is a complex beast, and O’Hare is byzantine itself.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 4 Mar. 2026
Behind the scenes, Florida Division of Emergency Management officials had spent nearly half of last year navigating a byzantine process in an attempt to secure reimbursement for its immigration operations, according to the emails.
—Garrett Shanley, Miami Herald, 3 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for byzantine
Adjective
-
Removing barriers for non-traditional students like prohibitive costs or complicated admissions and financial aid processes is one way to improve access, said Lane, who helps create the commission’s enrollment reports.—
Elizabeth Hernandez,
Denver Post,
31 May 2026
-
Several of them had taken part in the complicated 2018 cave rescue in northern Thailand of 12 schoolboys and their soccer coach.—
Jintamas Saksornchai,
Los Angeles Times,
30 May 2026
Adjective
-
The bar is 3,000 square feet in all, with muted pink pillows, intricate floral light fixtures and gold accents.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
29 May 2026
-
Notably, Tutt made significant contributions in the design of the intricate parachute system used on NASA’s Artemis II Orion spacecraft mission.—
Pat Maio,
Oc Register,
29 May 2026
Adjective
-
These are common but complicate long-term planning for federal agencies.—
Hollie Silverman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Sep. 2025
-
Despite differing views on a variety of security issues, the group, like Gilpatric’s, reached a clear consensus: nuclear proliferation by any additional country would diminish U.S. power, complicate strategic planning, and increase the likelihood of nuclear use, accidents, and disasters.—
MARIANO-FLORENTINO CUÉLLAR,
Foreign Affairs,
25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Divers cautioned that the next phase of the mission will be extremely complex, and at the mercy of the elements.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
30 May 2026
-
Even if most of that new work was beneath their pay grade, the number of complex projects also exploded.—
Rob Collie,
Fortune,
29 May 2026
Adjective
-
As robots grow more capable and AI more sophisticated, a growing chorus of researchers contends that machines can go further, do more, and take on greater risk – all at a fraction of the cost of keeping a human alive in orbit.—
Omar Kardoudi
May 29,
New Atlas,
29 May 2026
-
Mythos, the existence of which was first reported by Fortune in March, is notable for its coding and cyber capabilities, including the ability to find vulnerabilities in existing software and chain these vulnerabilities together to execute sophisticated cyber attacks.—
Beatrice Nolan,
Fortune,
29 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Byzantine.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/byzantine. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
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