involved

English

Etymology

From involve +‎ -ed.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɪnˈvɒlvd/
  • (Standard Southern British) IPA(key): /ɪnˈvɔlvd/
  • (MLE) IPA(key): /ɪnˈvoːvd/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ɪnˈvɑlvd/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Hyphenation: in‧volved

Adjective

involved (comparative more involved, superlative most involved)

  1. Complicated.
    He related an involved story about every ancestor since 1895.
    • 1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XLIII, in Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC:
      Miss Price told him a long, involved story, which made out that Mrs. Otter, a humdrum and respectable little person, had scabrous intrigues.
    • 2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian[1]:
      E-commerce has turned even the laying of a floor into a fiendishly involved business.
  2. Associated with others, be a participant or make someone be a participant (in a crime, process, etc.)
    The people involved in the project for three years.
    He got/was involved in a bar fight.
    When the family wrapped up my father's will, no one tried to make me feel involved.
  3. Having an affair with someone.
    • 1980 December 6, Cindy Rizzo, “Jewish, Lesbian, Feminist, Psychologist, Author—All of the above and more”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 20, page 8:
      She has been happily involved with the same woman for almost three years. During that time, they have grown together, dealt well with their problems and have worked consistently for a loving and trusting relationship.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

involved

  1. simple past and past participle of involve
    The explanation involved potatoes, squirrels, and race cars.