tortuous
tortuous
Definition
tor·tu·ous (tôr′c̸ho̵̅o̅ əs)
adjective
- full of twists, turns, curves, or windings; winding; crooked
- not straightforward; devious; specif., deceitful or tricky
Etymology: ME < Anglo-Fr < L tortuosus < tortus: see tort
tortuous
Synonyms
tortuous
modif.
tortuous
Usage Examples
Modifies a noun
- vein: These ballooned tortuous veins are the varicose veins you can see just under the skin.
- negotiation: BAC's stance in the tortuous negotiations about a move to Filton has been endorsed by the Charity Commissioners.
- path: I tried to smile - to comprehend what tortuous path had led her here?
- journey: In a tortuous journey across to Lesotho, he reaches the final crossing, the river gorge which forms the frontier.
- route: Cons: A tortuous route from main road to car park site.
- passage: This little working was remarkably narrow less than 50 cm in places, and had a tortuous entrance passage.
Modifying Another Word
- somewhat: In particular, the format of the revision is somewhat tortuous.
- rather: It's 20+ years since I read Tolkien, any Tolkien, but I can still remember it being a rather tortuous process.
- slightly: Cons: Slightly tortuous route out of the car park.
- sometimes: Petzold has deliberately chosen a slow, meandering, sometimes tortuous pace in order to build tension.
- often: The prose can be predictable, the plot often tortuous.
- very: It's all getting very tortuous again, isn't it?
Used with adjective complement
- get: And the jokes get worse as the evening wears on, and of course they get funnier as they get more tortuous.
Browse dictionary entries near tortuous
- tortuosity
- tortuosities
- Tortuga
- tortricid
- tortoni
- Tortola
- tortoiseshell
- tortoises
- tortoise-shell
- tortoise beetle
- tortuously
- tortuousness
- torture
- tortured
- torturer
- torturing
- torturous
- torturously
- Toruń
- torula
