tortuous
full of twists, turns, or bends; twisting, winding, or crooked: a tortuous path.
not direct or straightforward, as in procedure or speech; circuitous: tortuous negotiations lasting for months.
deceitfully indirect or morally crooked, as proceedings, methods, or policy; devious.
Origin of tortuous
1confusables note For tortuous
Other words for tortuous
Other words from tortuous
- tor·tu·ous·ly, adverb
- tor·tu·ous·ness, noun
- non·tor·tu·ous, adjective
- non·tor·tu·ous·ly, adverb
- un·tor·tu·ous, adjective
- un·tor·tu·ous·ly, adverb
- un·tor·tu·ous·ness, noun
Words that may be confused with tortuous
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use tortuous in a sentence
Breathes there a man so tortuously afflicted with Strabismus that he doesn't see it?
Just then a dark lean man came tortuously along the garden path.
Historical Miniatures | August StrindbergMrs. Martin had slowly and tortuously worked up to her climax, and she shot forth the last sentence with a jubilant ring.
The Uncalled | Paul Laurence DunbarAfter a third defeat this thread seemed to guide me to daylight from a tortuously winding cavern.
The Boss of Little Arcady | Harry Leon WilsonYou are no longer the slow, plodding, puny thing of clay, creeping tortuously upon the ground; you are a part of Nature!
Three Men in a Boat | Jerome K. Jerome
British Dictionary definitions for tortuous
/ (ˈtɔːtjʊəs) /
twisted or winding: a tortuous road
devious or cunning: a tortuous mind
intricate
Derived forms of tortuous
- tortuously, adverb
- tortuousness, noun
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
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