tortuous

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

|Updated on: 12 Aug 2018

Examples: tortuous in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

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

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tortuously

adverb

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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

Nora has been embattled in a tortuous legal struggle for her family home since the 1980s.

— vic mensa, Time, "Vic Mensa: What Palestine Taught Me About American Racism," 12 Jan. 2018
Circuit Court Judge Paul Felix dismissed ITM’s lawsuit against Noblesville alleging defamation and slander, restraint of trade and tortuous interference when the city refused to renew terms of a lease agreement to stay at its longtime 10-acre home.

— john tuohy, Indianapolis Star, "Judge orders train museum out of Noblesville home by July 12," 29 June 2018
That could make the path to an eventual government tortuous.

— eric sylvers, WSJ, "Italy Seeks New Government Across Deepening North-South Divide," 3 Apr. 2018
The search has plunged her into a thicket of tax sales and foreclosures, revealing a tortuous path of ownership that is not unusual for Baltimore’s thousands of vacant homes.

— tim prudente, baltimoresun.com, "With ownership in question, lawsuit stalls over deadly West Baltimore collapse," 12 July 2018
The foppish Johnson — an articulate campaigner — helped lead Brexit forces to victory in the June 2016 referendum that effectively ended Cameron’s career and set in motion more than two years of tortuous negotiations with the EU.

— gregory katz, The Seattle Times, "Out as UK foreign secretary: One more twist in Boris saga," 9 July 2018
Image It’s hard to blame them, especially since the score’s tortuous path limited its exposure.

— New York Times, "Wait, Leonard Bernstein Wrote a ‘Peter Pan’ Musical?," 26 June 2018
George’s timetable was particularly long and tortuous, perhaps more so than any pop artist of modern times.

— john norris, Billboard, "George Michael's 'Outside' and Its Celebration of Cottaging Is Still Bolder Than Most Pop Music 20 Years Later," 29 May 2018
After a year of tortuous negotiations on the U.K.’s exit from the European Union, many Britons have learned that Brexit isn’t just about Brexit.

— jenny gross, WSJ, "Another Rock on the Road to Brexit: Gibraltar," 30 Mar. 2018

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

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tortuosity

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

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torturously

adverb

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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

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Origin and Etymology of tortuous

tortuous Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

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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

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