complicavate

Complicavate is a neologism that functions as a verb meaning to introduce or increase complexity in a system, process, or argument.

Because it is informal and relatively rare, there is no settled definition or official etymology. The term is mainly attested in online discussion forums, blogs, and linguistic notes from the early 21st century onward, where it is described as a portmanteau that combines complicate with a productive suffix such as -vate to signal a resulting action.

In usage, complicavate tends to carry a critical or humorous tone, often used to point out situations where additional steps, rules, or assumptions make a task harder rather than clearer. It may be applied to technical contexts, policy procedures, or rhetorical arguments.

Examples include sentences such as: The rollout plan is being complicavated by additional gate reviews. The department argues that the new compliance requirements will complicavate reporting rather than improve transparency. These examples illustrate a sense that the term conveys deliberate or perceived over-engineering.

See also complicate, overengineering, bureaucratization. Complicavate remains a niche term whose reception varies by audience, but it is occasionally used in discussions of process optimization, software development, and organizational design to critique unnecessary complexity.