Byzantine
6
9.8
- adjective
- /bɪˈzæntiːn/
- And that's just the hardware; the software was an entirely Byzantine ordeal.
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Watch on YouTubeHe said, hey, get this Byzantine tags.
- He said, hey, get this Byzantine tags.
Examples
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The whole Byzantine, convoluted control system is statism at its worst.
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Her background was nearly as Byzantine as my own.
Fiction book (1999) -
The deeper we get, the more byzantine it gets.
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In the great tradition of Byzantine bureaucracies, this is taking a very long time.
Academic text (2011) -
The episode underscored the Byzantine nature of politics in the north, which is opaque even to longtime Sudan analysts.
Academic text (2011) -
They've fitted their product lifecycle management systems to help engineers and manufacturers track the sometimes Byzantine regulations and codes to which products must adhere.
Academic text (2006) -
The committee's decision-making process was incredibly byzantine, involving layers of rules that few could follow.
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Navigating the byzantine regulations of the financial industry often requires a specialist's expertise.
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Due to its byzantine structure, the project took twice as long as expected to complete.
Synonyms
32
8.6
Very complicated and hard to follow, often not needed
20
6.8
Very complicated and hard to follow, like rules or relationships
19
6.6
Complicated and hard to understand
8
8.1
Full of twists and turns, like a winding road or an argument
4
9.2
Having many parts that are hard to follow like a maze
1
8.1
Difficult to solve or understand, often about problems
1
9.2
Having many different kinds or parts
Compounds
3
6.3
The eastern part of the Roman Empire centered on Constantinople that lasted from about 395 to 1453
1
8.3
The Christian church in the Eastern Roman Empire with old worship services and traditions
- Specialized
1
8.8
A style of building with large domes on square bases and many mosaics
1
9.9
A very complex, slow system for a government or organization with too much paperwork
- Specialized
1
9.9
A form of Greek used in the Byzantine Empire from about 600 to 1200
- Specialized
A form of Greek spoken and written in the Byzantine Empire from about 600 to 1200
How Complex
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Byzantine comes from the city Byzantium, and a helpful way to remember the modern sense is this: people thought the empire had a very complicated court with many hidden rules, so calling a system Byzantine means it is very complex and often secretive or devious.