sinuous
Americanadjective
-
having many curves, bends, or turns; winding.
a sinuous path.
- Synonyms:
- serpentine
- Antonyms:
- straight
-
indirect; devious.
sinuous questions.
- Synonyms:
- roundabout
- Antonyms:
- direct
-
characterized by a series of graceful curving motions.
a sinuous dance.
-
Botany. sinuate, as a leaf.
adjective
-
full of turns or curves; intricate
-
devious; not straightforward
-
supple; lithe
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sinuous
From the Latin word sinuōsus, dating back to 1570–80. See sinus, -ous
Explanation
Sinuous means winding or curvy. If you get lost on a sinuous mountain path, you'll need a compass or a GPS to figure out which direction leads back to camp. The adjective sinuous comes from the Latin word sinus, which means to curve or bend. If you have a sinuous body, then you have lots of curves. Snakes use sinuous movements to travel. Live Oak trees have particularly sinuous branches. We usually use sinuous to talk about physical shapes of bodies or pathways, but you could also describe someone's logic as sinuous if it wanders all over the place when they're trying to explain something.
Vocabulary lists containing sinuous
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Otherwise, as a famous Brit once sang backed by sinuous xylophones, “Baby, baby, baby, you’re out of time.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
The seamless integration of old and new feels stealthy, and a touch subversive, a doubling-down on the museum’s approach to time as nonlinear, sinuous and delightfully slippery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
Yet where that film’s sinuous sculpting of time is marvelously sly and organic, “Blue Heron” always feels a little too carefully mapped out to achieve a similarly breathtaking effect.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
As a swimmer, Mijbil was “boneless, mercurial, sinuous, wonderful.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026
The whispers in the dark, random and soft, in the sinuous Orgota language that made Karhidish sound like rocks rattled in a can, ceased little by little.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
