different between intricate vs painstaking

English

Etymology 1

From Latin intricatus, past participle of intricare.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??n.t??.k?t/

Adjective

intricate (comparative more intricate, superlative most intricate)

1. Having a great deal of fine detail or complexity.
   • As a matter of fact its narrow ornate façade presented not a single quiet space that the eyes might rest on after a tiring attempt to follow and codify the arabesques, foliations, and intricate vermiculations of what some disrespectfully dubbed as “near-aissance.”

Translations

Etymology 2

As the adjective; or by analogy with extricate

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??n.t??.ke?t/

Verb

intricate (third-person singular simple present intricates, present participle intricating, simple past and past participle intricated)

1. (intransitive) To become enmeshed or entangled.
   • 1864 October 18, J.E. Freund, “How to Avoid the Use of Lint”, letter to the editor, in The New York Times (1864 October 23):

     […] washes off easily, without sticking or intricating into the wound.

2. (transitive) To enmesh or entangle: to cause to intricate.
   • 1994 December 12, William Safire, “Avoid Dunkirk II” (essay), in The New York Times:

     But the British and French won't hear of that; they want to get their troops extricated and our ground troops intricated.

References

• intricate at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• acitretin, triacetin, triactine

Italian

Adjective

intricate f pl

1. feminine plural of intricato

Verb

intricate

1. second-person plural present of intricare
2. second-person plural imperative of intricare
3. feminine plural past participle of intricare

Anagrams

• recintati
• trinciate

Latin

Verb

intr?c?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of intr?c?

English

Alternative forms

• (archaic) pains-taking

Etymology

From pains +? taking.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?pe?n?ste?k??/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /?pe?nz?te?k??/

Adjective

painstaking (comparative more painstaking, superlative most painstaking)

1. Carefully attentive to details; diligent in performing a process or procedure.
   • 1781, James Harris, Philological Inquiries

     All these painstaking men, considered together, may be said to have completed another species of criticism.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:industrious
• See also Thesaurus:meticulous

Derived terms

• painstakingly, painstakingness

Translations

Noun

painstaking (countable and uncountable, plural painstakings)

1. The application of careful and attentive effort.
   • c. 1836, Thomas Chalmers, Lectures on the Romans

     It is not by a flight of imagination that you gain the ascents of spiritual experience. It is by the toils and the watchings and the painstakings of a solid obedience.

   • 1852, Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham, Sermons in the Order of a Twelvemonth, "Sermon VI"

     Behold what an abundant recompense attends the small processes of the earth, with the help of a little warm air; and what wealthy returns the industry of the husbandman and the florist is preparing from a few seeds and painstakings.