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The Origin of Convoluted Isn't
If you’ve ever felt your brain twisting itself into a pretzel while trying to follow a complicated or hard-to-follow line of reasoning, you’ll appreciate the relative simplicity of the adjective convoluted, which is perfect for describing head-scratchers (and pretzel-makers). Convoluted traces back to the Latin verb convolvere, meaning “to roll up, coil, or twist.” Originally, convoluted (like its predecessor in English, the verb convolute) was used in the context of things having literal convolutions—in other words, twisty things like intestines or a ram’s horns. Over time it expanded to figuratively describe things like arguments, plots, stories, logic, etc., that are intricate or feature many twists and turns that make them difficult to understand.
Examples of convoluted in a Sentence
Ira Berlin, New York Times Book Review, 9 Sept. 2001
They are pictures of convoluted tree trunks on an island of pink wave-smoothed stone …
—Margaret Atwood, Harper's, August 1990
… she has been fashioning sequences of plans too convoluted to materialize …
—Joseph Heller, God Knows, 1984
To therapists, stepfamilies may present convoluted psychological dilemmas …
—Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Family Politics, 1983
a convoluted explanation that left the listeners even more confused than they were before
ABC News,
1 July 2026
Large scale brands will have to contend with making sense of convoluted supply chains to compile clear and accurate data across large product portfolios at the SKU level.
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Brian Delp,
Forbes.com,
29 June 2026
First, according to the report, these schools lost trust because of their convoluted pricing system; many set exorbitant tuition and use revenues from the richest families, who pay full price, to subsidize the cost of attendance for everyone else.
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Rose Horowitch,
The Atlantic,
27 June 2026
Lagerbielke may not really be in some convoluted line for a Swedish throne that has existed for more than 1,000 years.
—
Chris Vannini,
New York Times,
26 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for convoluted
Cite this Entry
“Convoluted.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/convoluted. Accessed 4 Jul. 2026.
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convoluted
adjective
Medical Definition
convoluted
adjective
