First recorded in 1350–1400.
Comes via Middle English from the Latin word tortuōsus, which derives from the verb torquēre, “to twist, bend.”
Sign up for more Word of the Day!

\r\nEXAMPLES OF TORTUOUS\r\n

The tortuous road through the mountains made for a challenging but scenic drive.
The author's writing style was known for its elegant prose and tortuous plot twists.

\r\nIt's National Poetry Month, and we’ve created a challenge that really is for everyone. Submit now!","audio":"https://static.sfdict.com/audio/T03/T0390200.mp3","definitions":[{"partofspeech":"adjective","data":"full of twists, turns, or bends; twisting, winding, or crooked."}],"examples":[],"imageUrl":"https://www.dictionary.com/e/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/tortuous_IG.png","accentColor":"#0063D7"}},"status":"succeeded"}},"meta":{"requestId":"IXgq2XvJ6dXGg7b1DMKlO","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchWordsNearby/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"before":[{"slug":"paste-mold","entry":"paste mold"},{"slug":"paste-on","entry":"paste-on"},{"slug":"paster","entry":"paster"},{"slug":"pastern","entry":"pastern"},{"slug":"pasternak","entry":"Pasternak"}],"after":[{"slug":"paste-up","entry":"paste-up"},{"slug":"pasteur","entry":"Pasteur"},{"slug":"pasteur-effect","entry":"Pasteur effect"},{"slug":"pasteurella","entry":"pasteurella"},{"slug":"pasteurellosis","entry":"pasteurellosis"}]}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"pasternak--boris"},"requestId":"0fq-0czPuFeRWu5qIKM63","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"luna/fetchExampleSentences/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"tdb":[],"gbg":[]}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"pasternak--boris"},"requestId":"-SeNZBgzHIPFQZT1XDvEC","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchDictionaryResults/fulfilled","payload":{"slugs":[{"entries":[],"url":"pasternak-boris"}]},"meta":{"arg":{"slug":"pasternak--boris"},"requestId":"p9of3f8dUdlCowvM80c1X","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchResultsData/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"url":"pasternak--boris","displayForm":"Pasternak, Boris","canonicalSlug":"pasternak--boris","content":[{"source":"cultural","entries":[{"id":"pasternakbor","type":"normal","entry":"Pasternak, Boris","entrySyllabified":null,"entryVariants":[],"homograph":0,"pronunciation":null,"predefinitionContent":null,"contentBlocks":[{"title":null,"content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":"A twentieth-century Russian author. He is famous for his poetry and for the novel Doctor Zhivago, the sweeping saga of a young doctor's adventures during World War I and the Russian Revolution. Soviet censors refused to allow publication of the novel, but it eventually appeared in Italian and English translations. Pasternak won the 1958 Nobel Prize in literature but was forced to reject it."}]}],"supplementaryNotes":[{"type":"Note","content":"Doctor Zhivago was adapted for an epic motion picture in 1965."}]}]}],"nearbyWordOrdinal":114564,"index-rank-01":["pasternak, boris"],"index-rank-02":["pasternak boris"],"index-rank-03":[],"index-rank-04":[],"index-rank-05":[],"index-rank-06":[],"index-rank-07":[],"index-rank-08":[],"index-rank-09":[],"index-rank-10":[],"index-rank-11":[],"index-rank-12":[],"index-rank-13":[],"index-rank-14":[],"index-rank-15":["pasternak-boris"],"tunaSlug":null,"isFeaturedMetaSlug":false}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"pasternak--boris"},"requestId":"uTYbsxko8EyFyH45IDUb1","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchSpellSuggestions/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"luna":["Pasternak","pastern","pastina","postern","PSATen","Pasadena","paste-on","pasting","gas tank","post oak"],"tuna":["posterns","postern","pastelike","pasturage","pasting","stank","pastings","postmark","stink","stunk","peacenik","piston","passenger","posting","passed on"],"lunaWithSlug":[{"displayForm":"Pasternak","slug":"pasternak"},{"displayForm":"pastern","slug":"pastern"},{"displayForm":"pastina","slug":"pastina"},{"displayForm":"postern","slug":"postern"},{"displayForm":"Pasadena","slug":"pasadena"},{"displayForm":"paste-on","slug":"paste-on"},{"displayForm":"pasting","slug":"pasting"},{"displayForm":"gas tank","slug":"gas-tank"},{"displayForm":"post oak","slug":"post-oak"}],"tunaWithSlug":[{"displayForm":"posterns","slug":"posterns"},{"displayForm":"postern","slug":"postern"},{"displayForm":"pastelike","slug":"pastelike"},{"displayForm":"pasturage","slug":"pasturage"},{"displayForm":"pasting","slug":"pasting"},{"displayForm":"stank","slug":"stank"},{"displayForm":"pastings","slug":"pastings"},{"displayForm":"postmark","slug":"postmark"},{"displayForm":"stink","slug":"stink"},{"displayForm":"stunk","slug":"stunk"},{"displayForm":"peacenik","slug":"peacenik"},{"displayForm":"piston","slug":"piston"},{"displayForm":"passenger","slug":"passenger"},{"displayForm":"posting","slug":"posting"},{"displayForm":"passed on","slug":"passed%20on"}]}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"pasternak--boris"},"requestId":"OAYtB0uNV3fxv_4z6emda","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}}]},"actionData":null,"errors":null}

Did you mean Pasternak?