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":"McrTYqX9OISkd21MtdjMt","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchWordsNearby/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"before":[{"slug":"torn","entry":"torn"},{"slug":"tornado","entry":"tornado"},{"slug":"tornado-alley","entry":"Tornado Alley"},{"slug":"tornaria","entry":"tornaria"},{"slug":"torne","entry":"Torne"}],"after":[{"slug":"tornillo","entry":"tornillo"},{"slug":"toro","entry":"toro"},{"slug":"toroid","entry":"toroid"},{"slug":"toroidal","entry":"toroidal"},{"slug":"toronto","entry":"Toronto"}]}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"torngat-mountains"},"requestId":"XItPGtxfBvsgIc8MMm9ou","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"luna/fetchExampleSentences/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"tdb":[],"gbg":[]}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"torngat-mountains"},"requestId":"pG2OPHMt4iVxCdU6nJqQU","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchDictionaryResults/fulfilled","payload":{"slugs":[{"entries":[{"__typename":"Entry","audioPronunciations":[{"mpeg":"https://nonprod-audio.dictionary.com/T03/T0381900/T0381900.mp3"}],"confusableNotes":[],"genderNotes":[],"grammarNotes":[],"headword":{"displayForm":"Torngat Mountains","slug":"torngat-mountains"},"idioms":[],"orderKey":99999010,"ordinal":10,"origin":null,"partOfSpeechBlock":[{"definitions":[{"antonymsConnection":{"edges":[]},"definitionSetChunks":"[{\"type\": \"def\", \"children\": [{\"text\": \"a mountain range in northern Labrador, Newfoundland, in eastern Canada, running north to south along the Atlantic coast.\", \"type\": \"text\"}]}]","examples":[],"ordinal":1,"subdefinitions":[],"synonymsConnection":{"edges":[]}}],"inflectionSets":[],"labelSet":null,"ordinal":1,"partOfSpeech":"plural noun"}],"pronunciationNotes":[],"pronunciationSet":{"pronunciationSetChunk":"{\"type\": \"pronunciation_set\", \"pointsTo\": \"u3bb48a285cbafaf0.-3bc55cee.14d9e7ac34f.-5b24\", \"pronunciationGroupChunks\": [{\"type\": \"pronunciation_group\", \"pointsTo\": \"u3bb48a285cbafaf0.-3bc55cee.14d9e7ac34f.-5b23\", \"ipaChunks\": [{\"text\": \"\\u02c8t\\u0254rn g\\u00e6t\", \"type\": \"text\", \"pointsTo\": \"u3bb48a285cbafaf0.-3bc55cee.14d9e7ac34f.-5b22\"}], \"spellChunks\": [{\"text\": \"tawrn\", \"type\": \"bold\", \"pointsTo\": \"u3bb48a285cbafaf0.-3bc55cee.14d9e7ac34f.-5b20\"}, {\"text\": \"-gat\", \"type\": \"text\"}]}]}"},"relatedFormSets":[],"sensitiveNotes":[],"spellingNotes":[],"synonymStudy":[],"usageAlerts":[],"usageNotes":[],"variants":[],"verbPhrases":[]}],"url":"torngat-mountains"}]},"meta":{"arg":{"slug":"torngat-mountains"},"requestId":"9pIhHbum-XY93e2KX4pHr","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchResultsData/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"url":"torngat-mountains","displayForm":"Torngat Mountains","canonicalSlug":"torngat-mountains","content":[{"source":"luna","entries":[{"id":"u3bb48a285cbafaf0.-3bc55cee.14d9e7ac34f.-5b28","type":"normal","entry":"Torngat Mountains","entrySyllabified":"Torngat Mountains","entryVariants":[],"homograph":null,"pronunciation":{"ipa":"ˈtɔrn gæt ","spell":"tawrn-gat ","audio":{"audio/ogg":"https://static.sfdict.com/audio/lunawav/T03/T0381900.ogg","audio/mpeg":"https://static.sfdict.com/audio/T03/T0381900.mp3"}},"predefinitionContent":"","posBlocks":[{"definitions":[{"order":1,"type":"simple","predefinitionContent":"","postdefinitionContent":"","definition":"a mountain range in northern Labrador, Newfoundland, in eastern Canada, running north to south along the Atlantic coast.","synonyms":"","antonyms":"","cites":[]}],"pos":"plural noun","posSupplementaryInfo":""}],"origin":null,"originData":null,"supplementaryNotes":[],"variantForms":[],"variantSpellings":[],"referenceData":[],"relatedForms":[],"confusables":[]}]}],"nearbyWordOrdinal":158554,"index-rank-01":["torngat mountains"],"index-rank-02":[],"index-rank-03":[],"index-rank-04":["torngat mountain","torngat mountains'","torngat mountains's"],"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":[],"categoryId":"16","tunaSlug":null,"isFeaturedMetaSlug":false}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"torngat-mountains"},"requestId":"OEpncpTHcb0ou2-yE65-X","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchSpellSuggestions/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"luna":["Tonga","tonga","turncoat","Tongan","taonga","togate","tongs","tinct","tong","Ternate","ternate","tonight","tornado","tomcat","Tanga","donga","tanga","tongued","tonnage","turnt","NOR gate","torquate","tollgate","town gas","tin hat","Turgot","nougat","target","tongue","tonlet","tinct.","turnout","top cat","torn","town car","moon gate","turn out"],"tuna":["turncoat","tongs","tinct","ternate","tonight","tornado","tomcat","tongued","tonnage","tollgate","townest","turn coat","target","tongue","tenant","tent","tint","doing t","tract","turnout","top cat","topcoat","truncate","donate","tangy","teenage","tenet","torn","trinket","tug at","doing a t","dong","tang","tangent","turn to","don't","taint","tango","taunt","toned","tonic","nag at","not got","on qt","one-act","turn out","down pat","dig at","to end","tongue-tie","to go to","dog it","on q t","on q.t.","on q. t."],"lunaWithSlug":[{"displayForm":"Tonga","slug":"tonga"},{"displayForm":"tonga","slug":"tonga"},{"displayForm":"turncoat","slug":"turncoat"},{"displayForm":"Tongan","slug":"tongan"},{"displayForm":"taonga","slug":"taonga"},{"displayForm":"togate","slug":"togate"},{"displayForm":"tongs","slug":"tongs"},{"displayForm":"tinct","slug":"tinct"},{"displayForm":"tong","slug":"tong"},{"displayForm":"Ternate","slug":"ternate"},{"displayForm":"ternate","slug":"ternate"},{"displayForm":"tonight","slug":"tonight"},{"displayForm":"tornado","slug":"tornado"},{"displayForm":"tomcat","slug":"tomcat"},{"displayForm":"Tanga","slug":"tanga"},{"displayForm":"donga","slug":"donga"},{"displayForm":"tanga","slug":"tanga"},{"displayForm":"tongued","slug":"tongued"},{"displayForm":"tonnage","slug":"tonnage"},{"displayForm":"turnt","slug":"turnt"},{"displayForm":"NOR gate","slug":"nor-gate"},{"displayForm":"torquate","slug":"torquate"},{"displayForm":"tollgate","slug":"tollgate"},{"displayForm":"town gas","slug":"town-gas"},{"displayForm":"tin hat","slug":"tin-hat"},{"displayForm":"Turgot","slug":"turgot"},{"displayForm":"nougat","slug":"nougat"},{"displayForm":"target","slug":"target"},{"displayForm":"tongue","slug":"tongue"},{"displayForm":"tonlet","slug":"tonlet"},{"displayForm":"tinct.","slug":"tinct"},{"displayForm":"turnout","slug":"turnout"},{"displayForm":"top cat","slug":"top-cat"},{"displayForm":"torn","slug":"torn"},{"displayForm":"town car","slug":"town-car"},{"displayForm":"moon gate","slug":"moon-gate"},{"displayForm":"turn out","slug":"turnout"}],"tunaWithSlug":[{"displayForm":"turncoat","slug":"turncoat"},{"displayForm":"tongs","slug":"tongs"},{"displayForm":"tinct","slug":"tinct"},{"displayForm":"ternate","slug":"ternate"},{"displayForm":"tonight","slug":"tonight"},{"displayForm":"tornado","slug":"tornado"},{"displayForm":"tomcat","slug":"tomcat"},{"displayForm":"tongued","slug":"tongued"},{"displayForm":"tonnage","slug":"tonnage"},{"displayForm":"tollgate","slug":"tollgate"},{"displayForm":"townest","slug":"townest"},{"displayForm":"turn coat","slug":"turn%20coat"},{"displayForm":"target","slug":"target"},{"displayForm":"tongue","slug":"tongue"},{"displayForm":"tenant","slug":"tenant"},{"displayForm":"tent","slug":"tent"},{"displayForm":"tint","slug":"tint"},{"displayForm":"doing t","slug":"doing%20t"},{"displayForm":"tract","slug":"tract"},{"displayForm":"turnout","slug":"turnout"},{"displayForm":"top cat","slug":"top%20cat"},{"displayForm":"topcoat","slug":"topcoat"},{"displayForm":"truncate","slug":"truncate"},{"displayForm":"donate","slug":"donate"},{"displayForm":"tangy","slug":"tangy"},{"displayForm":"teenage","slug":"teenage"},{"displayForm":"tenet","slug":"tenet"},{"displayForm":"torn","slug":"torn"},{"displayForm":"trinket","slug":"trinket"},{"displayForm":"tug at","slug":"tug%20at"},{"displayForm":"doing a t","slug":"doing%20a%20t"},{"displayForm":"dong","slug":"dong"},{"displayForm":"tang","slug":"tang"},{"displayForm":"tangent","slug":"tangent"},{"displayForm":"turn to","slug":"turn%20to"},{"displayForm":"don't","slug":"don%27t"},{"displayForm":"taint","slug":"taint"},{"displayForm":"tango","slug":"tango"},{"displayForm":"taunt","slug":"taunt"},{"displayForm":"toned","slug":"toned"},{"displayForm":"tonic","slug":"tonic"},{"displayForm":"nag at","slug":"nag%20at"},{"displayForm":"not got","slug":"not%20got"},{"displayForm":"on qt","slug":"on%20qt"},{"displayForm":"one-act","slug":"one-act"},{"displayForm":"turn out","slug":"turn%20out"},{"displayForm":"down pat","slug":"down%20pat"},{"displayForm":"dig at","slug":"dig%20at"},{"displayForm":"to end","slug":"to%20end"},{"displayForm":"tongue-tie","slug":"tongue-tie"},{"displayForm":"to go to","slug":"to%20go%20to"},{"displayForm":"dog it","slug":"dog%20it"},{"displayForm":"on q t","slug":"on%20q%20t"},{"displayForm":"on q.t.","slug":"on%20q.t."},{"displayForm":"on q. t.","slug":"on%20q.%20t."}]}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"torngat-mountains"},"requestId":"MhQJgsfkq_FFPQWQEHqyq","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}}]},"actionData":null,"errors":null}

Torngat Mountains

plural noun

Word of the Day