knotty
Americanadjective
-
a knotty piece of wood.
-
involved, intricate, or difficult.
a knotty problem.
- Synonyms:
- complicated, complex
adjective
-
(of wood, rope, etc) full of or characterized by knots
-
extremely difficult or intricate
Other Word Forms
- knottily adverb
- knottiness noun
- unknotty adjective
Etymology
Origin of knotty
First recorded in 1200–50, knotty is from the Middle English word cnotti. See knot 1, -y 1
Explanation
Whether it’s pine or problems, sometimes the word knotty can apply to both. Knotty can describe something that has a lot of knots, either literally or figuratively. The adjective knotty is a way to describe something that’s covered in knots. It can be used in a literal sense to refer to wood that is covered in hard, irregular knots — you’ve probably seen these circular, knobby imperfections that sometime appear on wood. The word can also be used figuratively to describe something that is intricate and difficult to solve, such as a knotty political problem involving two warring nations or a knotty legal issue involving complicated constitutional issues.
Vocabulary lists containing knotty
100 SAT Words Beginning with "J," "K," and "L"
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The BFG
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"Deep Survival" by Laurence Gonzales
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But for those with an ear for knotty structures that sometimes feel like puzzle pieces, taking in the whole of the record is rewarding, even fun.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026
Questions around pediatric use, Ms. Donnellan recognizes, are knotty: How do we balance the “significant health damage” caused by excess weight in childhood with the risks of committing children to long-term drug therapy?
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025
There’s a comprehensiveness to how “We Are Guardians” lays out a big, knotty problem of environment, politics, geography and business — internationalized yet hyper-local — while spotlighting the Indigenous push-back efforts.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2025
The singer's infectious energy and knotty pop-rock songs have been picking up new fans in every city.
From BBC • Apr. 5, 2025
‘Stay there please,’ he said, ‘and no chittering. I is needing to listen only to silence when I is mixing up such a knotty plexicated dream as this.’
From "The BFG" by Roald Dahl
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
