tortuous
OTHER WORDS FOR tortuous
Origin of tortuous
words often confused with tortuous
OTHER WORDS FROM tortuous
Words nearby tortuous
TORTUOUS VS. TORTUROUS
Whatâs the difference between tortuous and torturous?
Tortuous means winding or full of twists and turns, as in a tortuous path, but it can also be used in a more figurative way to mean indirect, convoluted, or even devious. Torturous is used to describe things that are painful or that cause suffering, as if they were a form of torture.
Both words are adjectives, and their spellings are separated by only one letterâmaking their pronunciations very similar. Making things even more confusing is that there are some situations in which it could make sense to use either word. For example, a piece of writing thatâs extremely hard to follow because of how unorganized it is could be described as both tortuous (because itâs so meandering) and torturous (because itâs like torture to read it).
The best way to remember the difference is that torturous has a second r in it, just like its base word, torture. If you want to use the word tortuous in a piece of writing and youâre worried it might be confusing, you might be right! Luckily, there are plenty of alternative words that can be used in the same way, depending on what you mean, such as winding, meandering, circuitous, indirect, and convoluted.
Hereâs an example of tortuous and torturous used correctly in the same sentence.
Example: Trying to follow the tortuous arguments in the meandering paper was torturous.Â
Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between tortuous and torturous.
Quiz yourself on tortuous vs. torturous!
Should tortuous or torturous be used in the following sentence?
The _____ switchback trail snaked up and down the mountainside.