(adj) highly complex or intricate and occasionally devious; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; - Sir Walter Scott, Syn. convoluted, involved, knotty, tangled, tortuous, Example: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; tortuous legal procedures; tortuous negotiations lasting for months