Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Tied or snarled in knots.
- adj. Covered with knots or knobs; gnarled.
- adj. Difficult to understand or solve. See Synonyms at complex.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
Wiktionary
- adj. Full of knots.
- adj. Complicated or tricky; complex; difficult.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Full of knots; knotted; having many knots
- adj. rare Hard; rugged.
- adj. Difficult; intricate; perplexed.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. used of old persons or old trees; covered with knobs or knots
- adj. making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe
- adj. tangled in knots or snarls
- adj. highly complex or intricate and occasionally devious
Etymologies
- knot + -y (Wiktionary)
Examples
“M. de Nointel, after settling certain knotty points in the”
“In the construction of this little word "equipping," taken with its context, is the point, apparently so knotty, which is to be determined.”
“A humorist of the present day has suggested that the knots on the staff indicate the numerous "knotty" questions which a doctor is asked to solve!”
“He seemed awful old and kind of knotty and twisty.”
“Nor did I escape, since having somehow or other established a reputation for wisdom, as soon as I had mastered sufficient of the language, every kind of knotty case was laid before me for decision.”
When the World Shook; being an account of the great adventure of Bastin, Bickley and Arbuthnot
“I tried to do it, but found it a "knotty" subject, and, like the texts Eachard speaks of,”
“You describe the abortion issue as a "knotty" question.”
“Its mix includes “born again” or vintage cowboy boots — “half the retail price and half the work to break them in”; ranch home decor, such as knotty pine log beds; “saloon girl” lingerie; exclusive designs, such as tank tops with “Honky” on the front and “Tonk” on the back; Pocahontas and Indian chief prints; and novelty gifts that baby boomers played with as children, such as candy cigarettes and badges.”
“He said biomass is a relatively cheap energy source because it uses non-commercial wood, such as knotty trees, tree stumps and branches, to fuel power plants.”
“They are still wrestling with how to do it—particularly with the knotty question of how to share the burden with private creditors.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘knotty’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Weftage
The many textures of touch.
smooth, warty, velvety, sleek, grainy, shaggy, abrasive, scratchy, bumpy, corded, ribbed, roughish and 95 more...
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Y
What a -Y does to an otherwise common, dull word
zany, waxy, wavy, arty, chewy, bony, boxy, cozy, nosy, foxy, wiry, junky and 321 more...
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It's Complicated
Words about complication, complexity.
nookshotten, finicky, challenging, intricate, complex, complication, involved, elaborate, labyrinthine, involute, sophisticated, tangled and 21 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1901 more...
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Revised GRE Wordlist_2013
Vocabulary building for my quest of GRE 2013
ephemeral, esoteric, rhetoric, censure, egregious, pittance, dupe, mulct, paucity, alacrity, maintain, laconic and 997 more...
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My Revised GRE Preparation List
Words from the new GRE : This list consists mostly of words from the book Magoosh-GRE-vocab-ebook, which is one of the best vocab materials available, especially if you have started preparing one ...
alacrity, prosaic, veracity, paucity, contrite, trite, maintain, laconic, pugnacious, disparate, egregious, innocuous and 533 more...
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My GRE
concomitant, mendacity, corollary, mandate, ascertain, exacerbate, substantiate, perennial, exemplify, hegemony, acrimonious, repertoire and 653 more...
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Hodges English 10 Vocab
All the vocab will get in class over the year.
aberration, acrimony, adduce, anthropomorphous, caitiff, chagrin, clement, connote, deluge, deride, dissemble, edify and 213 more...
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SAT Words
bigot, counterfeit, abhor, talisman, remuneration, placid, noxious, kindle, hamper, enfranchise, tangent, renown and 278 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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Alphaliterals
Words having the letters in alphabetical order. Only words of six or more letters are listed here.
For reverse alphabetical order see Retroliterals. For words and phrases with the vowels in a...abbess, abbott, abhors, accent, accept, access, accost, adders, adeems, aegilops, afflux, agloos and 58 more...
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SAT_RW
bigot, remuneration, kindle, noxious, abhor, placid, enfranchise, counterfeit, hamper, Abrasive, bilk, covert and 87 more...
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GRE 3500 K
killjoy, kindred, knave, knit, knoll, knotty, lachrymose, lampoon, languid, languish, languor, lap and 37 more...
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quandary
conundrums, posers, and baffling situations
quandary, conundrum, baffle, bewilder, snarl, closed book, perplex, imbroglio, mystify, bind, plight, brain teaser and 36 more...
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difficult-list27
inveterate, invidious, inviolable, invocation, irascible, irate, irreproachable, irresolute, irreverence, irrevocable, itinerary, jaded and 22 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for knotty.
milosrdenstvi Distinguished by being the last 6-letter alphaliteral in alphabetical order. Feb 6, 2010