tortuous

adjective tor·tu·ous \ ˈtȯrch-wəs , ˈtȯr-chə- \

Definition of tortuous

1 : marked by repeated twists, bends, or turns : winding

a tortuous path

2 a : marked by devious or indirect tactics : crooked, tricky

a tortuous conspiracy

b : circuitous, involved

the tortuous jargon of legal forms

—

tortuously

adverb

—

tortuousness

noun

See tortuous defined for English-language learners

See tortuous defined for kids

tortuous was our Word of the Day on 07/13/2014. Hear the podcast!

Examples of tortuous in a Sentence

a tortuous path up the mountain
a tortuous mountain road marked by numerous hairpin turns

Recent Examples of tortuous from the Web

Not when players were required to conform to a stringent, tortuous code of comportment.

— bill pennington, New York Times, "The No Fun League Tries to Loosen Up," 7 Sep. 2017
But the safety protocol's story is long and tortuous.

— jonathan m. gitlin, Ars Technica, "Trump administration reportedly kills vehicle-to-vehicle safety mandate [Updated]," 1 Nov. 2017
World Cup qualifying campaigns are often a tortuous slog that builds to a frenetic crescendo, an intense rush that leading teams seek to avoid the stress of by having their spot already wrapped up by then.

— martin rogers, USA TODAY, "U.S. men's national team has little margin for error after loss to Costa Rica," 1 Sep. 2017
His texting habit fueled his long and tortuous downfall.

— benjamin weiser, New York Times, "Anthony Weiner Gets 21 Months in Prison for Sexting With Teenager," 25 Sep. 2017
One likely reason: a tortuous bank crisis that caused losses for savers and led the government to rescue three lenders with taxpayers’ money this year.

— lorenzo totaro, Bloomberg.com, "Italians' Dwindling Trust in Banks Comes to Fore as Vote Nears," 3 Nov. 2017
In the tortuous constitutional negotiations of 2005, the Kurds had refused to sign a text that called Iraq an Arab state.

— robert ford, The Atlantic, "America Never Understood Iraq," 30 Oct. 2017
Weiner's sentencing was yet another chapter in his long and tortuous downfall.

— benjamin weiser, Alaska Dispatch News, "Weiner gets 21 months in prison for ‘sexting’ with teenager," 25 Sep. 2017
Workers then must go through the tortuous process of requesting a refund for the share not spent on collective bargaining, which unions may broadly define to include member engagement that boosts voter turnout.

— the editorial board, WSJ, "The GOP’s Labor Project," 21 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tortuous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Be careful not to confuse tortuous with torturous. These two words are relatives-both ultimately come from the Latin verb torquere, which means "to twist," "to wind," or "to wrench"-but tortuous means "winding" or "crooked," whereas torturous means "painfully unpleasant." Something tortuous (such as a twisting mountain road) might also be torturous (if, for example, you have to ride up that road on a bicycle), but that doesn't make these words synonyms. The twists and turns that mark a tortuous thing can be literal ("a tortuous path" or "a tortuous river") or figurative ("a tortuous argument" or "a tortuous explanation"), but you should consider choosing a different descriptive term if no implication of winding or crookedness is present.

Origin and Etymology of tortuous

Middle English, from Middle French tortueux, from Latin tortuosus, from tortus twist, from torquēre to twist

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

tortuous Synonyms

TORTUOUS Defined for English Language Learners

tortuous

adjective

Definition of tortuous for English Language Learners

: having many twists and turns
: complicated, long, and confusing

TORTUOUS Defined for Kids

tortuous

adjective tor·tu·ous \ ˈtȯr-chə-wəs \

Definition of tortuous for Students

: having many twists and turns

a tortuous path

Medical Dictionary

tortuous

adjective tor·tu·ous \ ˈtȯrch-(ə-)wəs \

medical Definition of tortuous

: marked by repeated twists, bends, or turns

a tortuous blood vessel

—

tortuosity

play \ˈtȯr-chə-ˈwäs-ət-ē\ noun, plural -ties

—

torturously

adverb

Learn More about tortuous

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for tortuous Spanish Central: Translation of tortuous Nglish: Translation of tortuous for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of tortuous for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up tortuous? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

tortuous

Definition of tortuous

tortuously

tortuousness

tortuous was our Word of the Day on 07/13/2014. Hear the podcast!

Examples of tortuous in a Sentence

Recent Examples of tortuous from the Web

Did You Know?

Origin and Etymology of tortuous

tortuous Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

TORTUOUS Defined for English Language Learners

tortuous

Definition of tortuous for English Language Learners

TORTUOUS Defined for Kids

tortuous

Definition of tortuous for Students

Medical Dictionary

tortuous

medical Definition of tortuous

tortuosity

torturously

Learn More about tortuous

Seen and Heard

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games

'Complement' vs. 'Compliment'

Trending: HRC: Media Opened Door to 'Charlatans'

Going Greek: 7 Words from the Greek Alphabet

Odd Habits and Quirks Quiz

2017 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes