convoluting
Adding unnecessary complexity
Convoluting is making something more complicated or twisted than necessary.
The word comes from the image of coiling or folding in on itself, like the convolutions of the brain.
Someone convoluting an explanation is adding unnecessary complexity: You're convoluting the issue—just give me a straight answer.
The simpler form is usually complicate.
Intertwining into disorder
- snarlingVocalized hostile warning
- knottingForming fixed interlacements
- enmeshingTrapping in interlaced strands
- ensnaringCatching by cunning
interlacing · webbing · matting · raveling · interweaving · netting · complicating · jumbling
Making things harder unnecessarily
- obfuscatingMaking unclear or confusing
- muddlingConfusedly mixing up
- confoundingCausing surprise or confusion
- befuddlingCausing mental confusion
perplexing · obscuring · clouding · compounding · exacerbating · mystifying · bewildering · confusing
Looping around repeatedly
- spiralingCurving in widening circles
- curlingForming curved shapes
- windingCurving repeatedly, sinuous
- loopingMoving in circles
swirling · twining · entwining · furling · writhing · contorting · bending · kinking
Laboring beyond healthy limits
- embellishingAdding decorative details
- overelaboratingDeveloping something excessively
- overengineeringExcessive unnecessary complexity
- embroideringDecorating fabric with stitches
overbuilding · overdesigning · overdeveloping · gilding · ornamenting · layering · amplifying · overloading
tangling
Intertwining into disorder
- snarlingVocalized hostile warning
- knottingForming fixed interlacements
- enmeshingTrapping in interlaced strands
ensnaring · interlacing · webbing · matting · raveling · interweaving · netting · complicating · jumbling · intertwining
overcomplicating
Making things harder unnecessarily
- obfuscatingMaking unclear or confusing
- muddlingConfusedly mixing up
- confoundingCausing surprise or confusion
befuddling · perplexing · obscuring · clouding · compounding · exacerbating · mystifying · bewildering · confusing · baffling
coiling
Looping around repeatedly
looping · swirling · twining · entwining · furling · writhing · contorting · bending · kinking · meandering
overworking
Laboring beyond healthy limits
- embellishingAdding decorative details
- overelaboratingDeveloping something excessively
- overengineeringExcessive unnecessary complexity
embroidering · overbuilding · overdesigning · overdeveloping · gilding · ornamenting · layering · amplifying · overloading
convolutingsimplifying
Making less complex
clarifying · streamlining · elucidating · untangling · demystifying
convolutingstraightening
Making something not crooked
untwisting · uncoiling · unwinding · smoothing · unkinking