Intricate 是一个与 extricate （使脱离、使摆脱）既形似又容易混淆的单词。该词源自拉丁语intricare（使缠住、使困惑、使尴尬）的过去分词intricatus（被缠住的），15世纪初进入英语后即用来表示“错综复杂的、盘根错节的、复杂精细的”，多指事物的各部分交织在一起，令人困惑，几乎不可能单独理解或掌握，

比如：

They contrived an intricate plot to topple the President.他们精心策划了一个错综复杂的阴谋来推翻总统。

Police officers uncovered an intricate web of deceit. Her partners were crooks and absconded with the funds.警官们揭开了一整套错综复杂的骗局。她的合伙人都是些骗子，已卷款逃之夭夭了。

The Central Committee has brought together the entire Party, the military, and the Chinese people and led them in effectively responding to grave, intricate international developments and a series of immense risks and challenges.权威用例……，团结带领全党全军全国各族人民有效应对严峻复杂的国际形势和接踵而至的巨大风险挑战，……

出自党的二十大报告（双语全文）

complex: not easy to analyze or understand; complicated or intricate complicated: consisting of many interconnecting parts or elements; intricate knotty: (of a problem or matter) extremely difficult or intricate同近义词