Synonyms for knotty

Adjective

1. baffling, knotty, problematic, problematical, difficult (vs. easy), hard

usage: making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve; "a baffling problem"; "I faced the knotty problem of what to have for breakfast"; "a problematic situation at home"

2. gnarled, gnarly, knotted, knotty, knobbed, crooked (vs. straight)

usage: used of old persons or old trees; covered with knobs or knots; "gnarled and knotted hands"; "a knobbed stick"

3. Byzantine, convoluted, intricate, involved, knotty, labyrinthine, tangled, tortuous, complex (vs. simple)

usage: highly involved or intricate; "the Byzantine tax structure"; "convoluted legal language"; "convoluted reasoning"; "intricate needlework"; "an intricate labyrinth of refined phraseology"; "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"