Knotty — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe

used of old persons or old trees; covered with knobs or knots

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/nˈɑːɾi/

🇬🇧British English

/nˈɒti/

🇮🇳Indian English

/nˈɒti/

2 syllables Say it as /nˈɑːɾi/.

Examples

a baffling problem
I faced the knotty problem of what to have for breakfast
a problematic situation at home

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

convoluted gnarly tortuous elusive involved snarly tough problematical problematic Byzantine knotted gnarled snarled knobbed baffling tangled

Parts of Speech

adjective	making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe “a baffling problem”
adjective	used of old persons or old trees; covered with knobs or knots “gnarled and knotted hands”
adjective	highly complex or intricate and occasionally devious; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; - Sir Walter Scott “the Byzantine tax structure”
adjective	tangled in knots or snarls “a mass of knotted string”

Word Forms

knottiness	noun	puzzling complexity
problem	noun	a state of difficulty that needs to be resolved
toughness	noun	impressive difficulty
gnarl	noun	something twisted and tight and swollen
tortuousness	noun	puzzling complexity
knot	noun	something twisted and tight and swollen
snarl	noun	something jumbled or confused

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

astig

große geistige Anforderungen stellen; schwer zu verstehen, zu lösen oder zu glauben

🇫🇷French

noueux

faire de grandes exigences mentales; difficile à comprendre, à résoudre ou à croire

🇪🇸Spanish

nudoso

hacer grandes exigencias mentales; Difícil de comprender, resolver o creer.

🇮🇹Italian

nodoso

fare grandi richieste mentali; difficile da comprendere, risolvere o credere

🇳🇱Dutch

knoestig

het stellen van grote mentale eisen; moeilijk te begrijpen, op te lossen of te geloven

🇵🇹Portuguese

complicado

fazendo grandes exigências mentais; difícil de compreender, resolver ou acreditar

🇷🇺Russian

узловатый

предъявлять большие умственные требования; трудно понять, решить или поверить

India

🇮🇳Hindi

विकट

बड़ी मानसिक माँगें करना; समझना या हल करना या विश्वास करना कठिन

🇧🇩Bengali

গিঁট

মহান মানসিক চাহিদা তৈরি করা; বোঝা বা সমাধান করা বা বিশ্বাস করা কঠিন

🇮🇳Tamil

முடிச்சு

பெரிய மன கோரிக்கைகளை உருவாக்குதல்; புரிந்துகொள்வது அல்லது தீர்ப்பது அல்லது நம்புவது கடினம்

🇮🇳Telugu

ముడిపడిన

గొప్ప మానసిక డిమాండ్లను చేయడం; అర్థం చేసుకోవడం లేదా పరిష్కరించడం లేదా నమ్మడం కష్టం

🇮🇳Marathi

गाठ

मोठ्या मानसिक मागण्या करणे; समजणे किंवा सोडवणे किंवा विश्वास करणे कठीण

🇮🇳Gujarati

ગાંઠ

મહાન માનસિક માંગણીઓ કરવી; સમજવું અથવા ઉકેલવું અથવા માનવું મુશ્કેલ

🇮🇳Kannada

ಗಂಟು ಹಾಕಿದ

ದೊಡ್ಡ ಮಾನಸಿಕ ಬೇಡಿಕೆಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡುವುದು; ಗ್ರಹಿಸಲು ಅಥವಾ ಪರಿಹರಿಸಲು ಅಥವಾ ನಂಬಲು ಕಷ್ಟ

🇮🇳Malayalam

കെട്ട്

വലിയ മാനസിക ആവശ്യങ്ങൾ ഉണ്ടാക്കുന്നു; മനസ്സിലാക്കാനോ പരിഹരിക്കാനോ വിശ്വസിക്കാനോ പ്രയാസമാണ്

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਗੰਢ

ਮਹਾਨ ਮਾਨਸਿਕ ਮੰਗਾਂ ਕਰਨਾ; ਸਮਝਣਾ ਜਾਂ ਹੱਲ ਕਰਨਾ ਜਾਂ ਵਿਸ਼ਵਾਸ ਕਰਨਾ ਮੁਸ਼ਕਲ ਹੈ

🇵🇰Urdu

گرہ دار

عظیم ذہنی مطالبات کرنا؛ سمجھنا یا حل کرنا یا یقین کرنا مشکل

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

棘手

提出很高的精神要求；难以理解、解决或相信

🇯🇵Japanese

節のある

精神的に大きな要求をする。理解するのが難しい、解決するのが難しい、信じるのが難しい

🇰🇷Korean

매듭이 있는

엄청난 정신적 요구를 하는 것; 이해하기 어렵거나 해결하기 어렵거나 믿기 어렵습니다.

🇻🇳Vietnamese

có nhiều nút thắt

đưa ra những yêu cầu lớn về mặt tinh thần; khó hiểu, khó giải quyết hoặc khó tin

🇹🇭Thai

มีปัญหา

สร้างความต้องการทางจิตอย่างมาก ยากที่จะเข้าใจหรือแก้ไขหรือเชื่อ

🇮🇩Indonesian

rumit

membuat tuntutan mental yang besar; sulit untuk dipahami atau dipecahkan atau dipercaya

🇵🇭Filipino

buhol-buhol

paggawa ng mahusay na mga pangangailangan sa pag-iisip; mahirap intindihin o lutasin o paniwalaan

🇲🇾Malay

bersimpul

membuat tuntutan mental yang hebat; sukar untuk difahami atau diselesaikan atau dipercayai

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

معقود

تقديم مطالب عقلية كبيرة؛ يصعب فهمها أو حلها أو تصديقها

🇮🇷Persian

گره دار

ایجاد خواسته های ذهنی بزرگ؛ درک یا حل یا باور کردن آن سخت است

🇹🇷Turkish

budaklı

büyük zihinsel taleplerde bulunmak; anlamak, çözmek veya inanmak zor

🇮🇱Hebrew

מְסוּבָּך

העמדת דרישות נפשיות גדולות; קשה להבין או לפתור או להאמין

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'knotty'?

The primary meaning of 'knotty' is 'making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'knotty' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'knotty' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'knotty' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'knotty' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'knotty' in your daily reading?

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Occasionally

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Do you find 'knotty' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

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In your opinion, does the word 'knotty' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

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Neutral

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Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'knotty' in regular conversations?

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Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'knotty' in a professional email?

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Would you classify 'knotty' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

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Slang

Archaic

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