Meaning & use
level of complexity
Last updated
Meanings
phrasecountable
How complicated something is, measured as a point on a scale from simple to very involved.
Grammar: Countable: use a/an or a plural, as in 'different levels of complexity'.
Patterns
- a high/low level of complexity
- increase the level of complexity
- at a certain level of complexity
The second task raises the level of complexity quite sharply.
We try to keep the level of complexity low for beginners.
At this level of complexity, even experts need software tools.
phrasecountable
A stage or degree of difficulty within a system, game, or piece of work.
Grammar: Often used with 'next' or 'higher' when talking about stages.
Patterns
- the next level of complexity
- move to a higher level of complexity
Once you pass this stage, the game moves to the next level of complexity.
Each level of complexity adds one new rule.
Word forms
| plural | levels of complexity |
|---|
Common combinations
- a high level of complexity
- The new tax rules have a high level of complexity.
- reduce the level of complexity
- Good editing can reduce the level of complexity in a report.
- the level of complexity increases
- As the project grows, the level of complexity increases.
- at every level of complexity
- The software is tested at every level of complexity.
Synonyms and how they differ
- complexity
- Shorter and more general; 'level of complexity' stresses a point on a scale, while 'complexity' just names the quality.
- difficulty
- Use 'difficulty' when the focus is on how hard something is to do, not on how many parts or rules it has.
Opposites
Word family
- complex adjective
- Made of many connected parts; hard to understand.
- complexity noun
- The state of being complicated, or a complicated feature.
- complexly adverb
- In a complicated way; rather rare.
Commonly confused: level of complexity or level of difficulty?
level of complexity vs level of difficulty
Similar phrase, but it measures how hard something is to do, not how many parts or rules it contains.
Practice
The new safety rules raised the ___ of complexity for small firms.
Choose one answer.
'Level of complexity' is the fixed collocation for a point on a scale. 'Amount' and 'number' do not combine naturally with 'complexity' in this sense, and 'degree of complexity' is possible but does not fit the phrase 'raised the ___ of complexity' as a set expression.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “level of complexity”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.