Complext is not a word

Posted on Oct 8, 2009 in Language | 3 comments

I’ve encountered another denizen of the dictionary of imaginary words. It’s much less common than cousins such as “acrost” and “drownd,” but it does rear its non-existent head. That non-word, friends, is “complext.”

The correct word is, of course, just “complex,” meaning “intricate, sophisticated; the opposite of simple,” etc. It also refers to a group of related or interconnected buildings, as well as a few other common meanings. Its genesis is clear: some mispronunciation somewhere was overheard, internalized, repeated, and spread. Unlike “acrost” and “drownd,” which grew out of the mistaken application of the “-ed” suffix, “complex” doesn’t typically use that ending so it’s a bit harder to fathom where this non-word originated.

Its misuse runs the gambit, from the forgivable (English writing by non-native speakers) to the typical: an erroneous “t” appended to an otherwise correct word. Many appear to be typos, as in this screenshot showing the misspelling once followed by two correct usages, this gal’s MySpace profile, or most search engine results. (Excluding, of course, the references to C programmers’ template files.)

Have you seen this one “in the wild?” Share it in the comments… they’re simple to use, not complext at all. (Oops!)

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