Refine this word faster

Stronger alternatives Opposite tone Use in context Cross-language nuance

Knotty

//ˈnɒti// adj

Definitions

Adjective

1
Of string or something stringlike: full of, or tied up, in knots.
"I could a Tale vnfold, vvhoſe lighteſt vvord / VVould harrovv vp thy ſoule, freeze thy young blood, / Make thy tvvo eyes like Starres, ſtart from their Spheres, / Thy knotty and combined locks to part, / And each particular haire to ſtand an end, / Like Quilles vpon the fretfull Porpentine: […]"
2
Of a part of the body, a tree, etc.: full of knots (knobs or swellings); gnarled, knobbly.
"a knotty pine"
3
Complicated or tricky; complex, difficult. figuratively
"a knotty problem"
4
Of an austere or hard nature; rugged. figuratively
"[A] witte in youth, that is not ouer dulle, heauie, knottie and lumpiſhe, but hard, rough, and though ſomwhat ſtaffiſhe, […] ſuch a witte I ſay, if it be, at the firſt well handled by the mother, and rightlie ſmothed and wrought as it ſhould, not ouerwhartlie, and against the wood, by the ſcholemaſter, both for learning, and hole courſe of liuing, proueth alwaies the beſt."

Adjective

1
tangled in knots or snarls wordnet
2
making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe wordnet
3
highly complex or intricate and occasionally devious wordnet
4
used of old persons or old trees; covered with knobs or knots wordnet

Etymology

From Middle English knotti, knotty (“having a knot in it; full of knots; tied together (?); resembling a knot, knotlike; having knobs or protuberances; bulging, convex; of a tree, branch, etc.: full of knots, gnarled; of a plant cutting to be grafted or planted: full of buds or eyes; having joints (?); having swollen joints; of flesh: glandular; of flesh: granular, lumpy, especially, having many swellings; mangy, scurfy (?); having pimples (?); of cauterization: carried out on glandular tissue; (figuratively) of a question or problem: difficult, intricate”) [and other forms], from knotte (“knot; pattern of intersecting lines; coil of a snake”) (from Old English cnotta (“knot”), from Proto-Germanic *knuttô (“knot”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gned- (“to bind”)) + -i (suffix forming adjectives from nouns). The English word may be analysed as knot + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the quality of’). Cognates * Dutch knoestig (“knotty”) * German knotig (“knotty”) * Swedish knotig, knutig (“knotty”)

Next best steps

Find stronger synonyms See usage examples Check pronunciation

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: knotty