The Republicans greatly complexified the tax code, contributing to tax evasion and making the I.R.S.’s job more difficult. —Chris Edwards, director of tax policy at the Cato Institute, as quoted by David Cay Johnston in "I.R.S. Audits Middle Class More Often, More Quickly"

complexify: to complicate, especially unnecessarily

antonym: to simplify (as in "An oft-stated Republican objective has been to simplify the tax code.")

What a handy word! It seems to describe almost everything the Republicans have done since coming to power.

Here are a few examples. I'm sure you can think of more—

• The invasion of Iraq has greatly complexified relations in the Middle East.
• Homeland Security's new rules have complexified air travel.
• The loss of 5 million emails has hopelessly complexified investigation into White House involvement in any possible malfeasance by the Attorney General—or so the White House hopes.

Tags: * Word of the Day complexify IRS tax audit taxes tax evasion tax code Republican