as in winding
marked by a long series of irregular curves
a tortuous mountain road marked by numerous hairpin turns
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Recent Examples of tortuous
Werfel concocted a more tortuous explanation for his wife’s grotesque behavior.
—
Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2025
The obvious parallel in the Chinese case is Mao Zedong, who oversaw a tortuous hollowing out of China’s nascent political and administrative institutions.
—Jude Blanchette, Foreign Affairs, 16 Mar. 2022
Homer’s poem tells of the Greek hero King Odysseus and his tortuous, 10-year journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War.
—Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Feb. 2025
Advertisement The deal follows months of tortuous negotiations led by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, with the Qataris regularly expressing frustration and threatening to walk away at one point.
—Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 19 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tortuous
Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2025
The obvious parallel in the Chinese case is Mao Zedong, who oversaw a tortuous hollowing out of China’s nascent political and administrative institutions.
—Jude Blanchette, Foreign Affairs, 16 Mar. 2022
Homer’s poem tells of the Greek hero King Odysseus and his tortuous, 10-year journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War.
—Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Feb. 2025
Advertisement The deal follows months of tortuous negotiations led by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, with the Qataris regularly expressing frustration and threatening to walk away at one point.
—Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 19 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tortuous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tortuous
Adjective
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Sharing his battle At that point, Lowe faced a winding path of medical appointments, treatments and side effects.—
Lisa Schencker,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Apr. 2025
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Hello, goodbye: The long and winding road of music biopics has finally led us to four feature films about the Beatles, coming in April 2028 by way of Bond director Sam Mendes.—
Raven Smith,
Vogue,
2 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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In an adjacent field lay the twisted and charred remains of ambulances.—
Clayton Dalton,
New Yorker,
18 Apr. 2025
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We're also introduced to Eleven’s twisted father figure, Dr. Brenner (Alex Breaux, taking on Matthew Modine's role from the series).—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Even after landing on the wrong side of the serpentine Soto saga, the Yanks tout a respectable lineup headlined by all-multiverse slugger Aaron Judge.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
27 Mar. 2025
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The title track, a suite of cosmic grandeur and dizzying time signatures, breathes deeper in this mix, with Chris Squire’s bass rumbling like tectonic shifts under Steve Howe’s serpentine guitar work.—
Darryn King,
Forbes,
15 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tortuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tortuous. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
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