circuitous
[ser-kyoo-i-tuh s]
- roundabout; not direct: a circuitous route; a circuitous argument.
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Origin of circuitous
Synonyms
See more synonyms for circuitous on Thesaurus.comcircular, winding, indirect, meandering.
Antonyms
straight, direct.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for circuitous
Contemporary Examples
It seems like you took a circuitous route, rather than coming up through some agency.
They were flawed and beautiful men in circuitous search of redemption, and Newman wore the characters effortlessly.
There was nothing new, or even objectionable, in the speech, which took a circuitous historical route to its subject.
But a Palestinian from the West Bank would need to travel all the way around on a circuitous route.
The circuitous route that Lincoln claimed, via the Great Lakes, was actually the one best suited for passenger travel in the era.
Historical Examples
Taking a circuitous route, he at last reached a sort of little inn.
A Nest of SpiesPierre Souvestre
Henry led the horse round by a circuitous way back to the path.
Rollo in SwitzerlandJacob Abbott
It seems a circuitous way; but it may prove a way nevertheless.
Past and PresentThomas Carlyle
The lateness of the hour compelled her to take a circuitous route to London.
Lover or FriendRosa Nouchette Carey
The ledge could only be reached by a circuitous route three miles away.
The Three PartnersBret Harte
circuitous
- indirect and lengthy; roundabouta circuitous route
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for circuitous
adj.
1660s, from Medieval Latin circuitous "full of roundabout ways," from Latin circuitus "a going round" (see circuit (n.)). Related: Circuitously; circuitousness.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper