circuitous

[ser-kyoo-i-tuhs]

adjective

1. roundabout; not direct.

   a circuitous route; a circuitous argument.

   Synonyms: indirect, winding, circular
   Antonyms: direct, straight

circuitous

/ səˈkjuːɪtəs /

adjective

1. indirect and lengthy; roundabout

   a circuitous route

Other Word Forms

• circuitously adverb
• circuitousness noun
• noncircuitous adjective
• noncircuitously adverb
• noncircuitousness noun
• uncircuitous adjective
• uncircuitously adverb
• uncircuitousness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of circuitous¹

1655–65; < Medieval Latin circuitōsus, equivalent to circuit ( us ) circuit + -ōsus -ous

Example Sentences

People travelling between Al-Eizariya and Jerusalem would have to take a circuitous route three times longer than the present journey, he said.

Read more on Barron's

“The Best Years of Our Lives” centers on three G.I.s who meet on their circuitous way home to Boone City, the fictional Midwest metropolis that’s the movie’s setting.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Even with dispensation, a look at the map shows Putin may have to take a circuitous route.

Read more on BBC

But it was a long, circuitous road to get there.

Read more on Salon

They were the culmination of a typically circuitous series of reflections by the American president on the happenings in China over the past several days.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• devious 
• labyrinthine 
• meandering 
• rambling 
• tortuous