Main entry: knotty, snarled, snarly
Definition: tangled in knots or snarls
Usage: a mass of knotted string; snarled thread
Main entry: elusive, tough, baffling, problematic, problematical, knotty
Definition: making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe
Usage: a baffling problem; I faced the knotty problem of what to have for breakfast; a problematic situation at home
Main entry: convoluted, Byzantine, involved, knotty, tortuous, tangled
Definition: highly complex or intricate and occasionally devious
Usage: the Byzantine tax structure; Byzantine methods for holding on to his chairmanship; convoluted legal language; convoluted reasoning; the plot was too involved; a knotty problem; got his way by labyrinthine maneuvering; Oh, what a tangled web we weave- Sir Walter Scott; tortuous legal procedures; tortuous negotiations lasting for months
Main entry: gnarled, gnarly, knobbed, knotted, knotty
Definition: used of old persons or old trees; covered with knobs or knots
Usage: gnarled and knotted hands; a knobbed stick