complicate matters

idiom

: to make a situation more complicated

To (further) complicate matters, they both have the same name.

Examples of complicate matters in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

To complicate matters, keeping the colorful rings on the tower is actually going to take more work than removing them. —

Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Sep. 2024 To complicate matters, these products are difficult to make — even sterile water or saline solution. —

Berkeley Lovelace Jr., NBC News, 18 Oct. 2024 To complicate matters, an oil supply crunch could coincide with a surge in demand, given rate cuts in the U.S. and China’s new efforts to use stimulus to kickstart its weak economy. —

Lila MacLellan, Fortune, 3 Oct. 2024 To complicate matters, Baker was often rewriting the night before, embracing and discarding ideas about the violent paces the characters would put each other through. —

Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for complicate matters

Cite this Entry

Style

“Complicate matters.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/complicate%20matters. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

Copy Citation