complicate vs. complicated

Hello,

I looked up several dictionaries, and many of them says complicate can be used as an adjective meaning ‘complex’ ‘involved’. Then, how is different from ‘complicated’?

For example,

_______ application procedures have resulted in a drop in interest in our investment and other financial services packages.

(A) Complicating
(B) Complicated
© Complicates
(D) Complicate

The answer is (B). How about (D)? I know complicate is used almost as a verb, right? But if it could be used as an adjective, can it fill in the blank above?

Thank you in advance,

sweetpumpkin

Should be (B). And “complicate” can’t be used as an adjective, I think.

Indeed it can:

ADJECTIVE: (-kt)1. Complex, intricate, and involved. 2. Biology Folded longitudinally one or several times, as certain leaves or the wings of some insects.

bartleby.com/61/11/C0531100.html

Note the different pronunciation.

Oh yes, it can. My ignorance, very sorry.

No, it was a surprise to me also.

This usage appears to be limited to the field of biology, and an ordinary person can go through his entire life without encountering it. For all other usages, it’s best to go with “complicated”.

Maybe, Jamie, but can you answer this question?

BTW, do you expect that only ordinary learners visit this site?

I guess the difference between ‘complicated’ and ‘complicate’ (both adjectives) is, ‘complicated’ bears a sense of ‘been made complex’ whereas ‘complicate’ just ‘been complex’.

I’d say that “complicate” as an adjective would mean something to the effect of “of complex composition”.

But '‘complicated’ would as well mean “of complex composition” = “containing intricately combined or involved parts”

There is a different feeling between one and the other that I’m having trouble coming up with an explanation for. This is going to require some thinking.

complicate

Folded upon itself; folded lengthwise

glossary.gardenweb.com/glossary/complicate.html

I get a feeling that “complicated”


But:

Complicated

Made complex; denoting a disease upon which a morbid process or event has been superimposed, altering symptoms and modifying its course for the worse.

Origin: L. Com-plico, pp. -atus, to fold together

biology-online.org/dictionary/Complicated

This clears everything up! Thank you, Molly.

I could conclude then both complicate and complicated ‘can’ fill in the blank above. The question above is not a good one… But the direction says(I didn’t put it here) ‘Select the best answer to complete the sentence’. Then I think the best answer goes to ‘complicated’. I googled and found out the word ‘procedure’ is usually used with ‘complicated’, not ‘complicate’. Besides, I checked www.americancorpus.org , and it showed that complicate is almost used as a verb. Surely, complicate ‘can’ fill in the blank, but most of native speakers use ‘complicated’ instead of it and think the latter is more natural… my guess.

Anyway, thank you for answering my question. I’m really glad many ‘GOSUes’(In Korean, ‘Gosu’[gosu] literally means ‘a better hand’, standing for someone with higher skills, an expert, or a superior.) help me out here. :smiley:

I agree.

Okay, Mr. Corpus, show me a real-life case in which “complicate” is used adjectivally in a comparable sentence.

How about,

The wings of those insects are more complicate.

This, again, is from biological sciences. The original sentence didn’t involve biology. If “complicate” can be used in the original sentence, then I need to see an example from outside the field of biology and in similar usage to that in the sentence that the thread began with.

Then how about this one,

With this approach it’s a bit more complicate to implement the “simple” RowTest scenario, but it allows also to implement more complicate ones.

I would agree with you.

“Complicate” (adj.) with the sense “interwoven”, “compound” or “complex” is quite archaic. I would only expect to encounter it in a C17 or C18 text, or in the works of a deliberately archaic stylist such as Pater.

“Complicate” (adj.) in the botanical or entomological sense, on the other hand, where it relates to certain “folded” aspects of an organ, would tend to occur only in a formal taxonomic description, or a context such as this:

Thus although “complicate” is not technically impossible in your context (perhaps as a bizarre metaphor), it is inappropriate, in comparison with “complicated” (the “natural” choice; as the advertisers might say).

MrP