anfractuous

American  

[an-frak-choo-uhs] / ænˈfræk tʃu əs /

adjective

1. characterized by windings and turnings; sinuous; circuitous.

   an anfractuous path.

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anfractuous British  

/ ænˈfræktʃʊəs /

adjective

1. characterized by twists and turns; convoluted

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Etymology

Origin of anfractuous

First recorded 1575–85; from French anfractueux, from Late Latin anfractuosus “roundabout, prolix,” from Latin anfractus “bend, curve” (equivalent to the prefix am-, an-, a rare variant of ambi- “both, around, about”) and a derivative of the verb frangere “to break, shatter, smash” + adjective suffix -osus; fraction ( def. ), break ( def. ), -ose ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

Paint me a cavernous waste shore Cast in the unstilted Cyclades, Paint me the bold anfractuous rocks Faced by the snarled and yelping seas.

From Poems by Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns)

Winding; full of windings and turnings; sinuous; tortuous; as, the anfractuous spires of a born.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Webster, Noah

For throughout the labyrinth of all this anfractuous narrative there was indeed one guiding ray of light.

From Shelburne Essays, Third Series by More, Paul Elmer

Thin, anfractuous highways and dirt roads scarred the green and brown landscape, and as far as the eye could reach were to be seen farmhouses and barns and silos.

From Quill's Window by McCutcheon, George Barr

A state of being anfractuous, or full of windings and turnings; sinuosity.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Webster, Noah