Word of the day · 18 June 2026
byzantine
/bɪˈzæntaɪn/
adjective
Excessively complicated, intricate or involved, especially in rules or bureaucracy.
In a sentence
- Staff spent a week decoding the byzantine expense rules.
- The merger created a byzantine chain of reporting lines.
- What looked simple on the form hid a byzantine approval path.
In an image
Origin
From Byzantine, relating to Byzantium and the later Eastern Roman Empire; English extended the adjective to tangled systems and intrigue.
History
Capital-B Byzantine still names art, history and the empire centered on Constantinople. Lowercase byzantine in modern prose often means overly complex: byzantine regulations, byzantine org charts. The shift grew from stereotypes of elaborate court intrigue. Use the lowercase sense when you mean tangled process, and keep the capital when you mean the empire or its culture.
Nearby words
convoluted · labyrinthine · intricate
Complexity that feels labyrinthine, far beyond the historical empire alone.