as in winding
marked by a long series of irregular curves
a tortuous mountain road marked by numerous hairpin turns
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tortuous
The 2 World Trade Center building will round out the long, tortuous redevelopment of the original 16-acre trade center property.
—
CBS News, 26 Feb. 2026
Nerdy scholars, tortuous tenure tracks and college campus rivalry abounds.
—Brianne Kane, Scientific American, 13 Feb. 2026
Sharks with lower energy reserves, in contrast, exhibited more tortuous or localized movements, likely reflecting a strategy constrained by limited metabolic capacity.
—Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 19 Jan. 2026
In phantom endovascular models, the robot successfully navigated through tortuous vessel-like structures, demonstrating the technique’s potential for minimally invasive vascular interventions.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 1 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tortuous
CBS News, 26 Feb. 2026
Nerdy scholars, tortuous tenure tracks and college campus rivalry abounds.
—Brianne Kane, Scientific American, 13 Feb. 2026
Sharks with lower energy reserves, in contrast, exhibited more tortuous or localized movements, likely reflecting a strategy constrained by limited metabolic capacity.
—Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 19 Jan. 2026
In phantom endovascular models, the robot successfully navigated through tortuous vessel-like structures, demonstrating the technique’s potential for minimally invasive vascular interventions.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 1 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tortuous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tortuous
Adjective
-
Said Rahmani often compared his life story to the plot of Paulo Coelho’s novel The Alchemist, in which a young shepherd sets off on a long and winding journey to find his treasure, only to learn that it was buried near his home all along.—
Bozorgmehr Sharafedin,
The Atlantic,
1 June 2026
-
Miscellaneous notes Bryan Torres, OF, STL: Torres made his MLB debut this past week after a long and winding road to the majors that included a stop in independent ball.—
Andrea Arcadipane,
New York Times,
29 May 2026
Adjective
-
On the giant video screens that cover the curved facade of the building were scenes of rockets being launched, orbital data centers being built, and Musk describing humanity’s future in space.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
12 June 2026
-
Courtesy of the City of Orlando The area will be located behind a curved wall, screened from the main section.—
R. Daniel Foster,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2026
Adjective
-
The investigation soon brings them into a twisted conspiracy theory playing out under the noses of the Planet Clitoris’ shady government.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
12 June 2026
-
Names, numbers and colors acquire a twisted symbolism.—
Julia Moore,
PEOPLE,
10 June 2026
Adjective
-
Nilles was astonishing on her first-ever live performance of the song, somehow mastering its serpentine intricacies on top of the other 40 or so epics she’s absorbed.—
Brian Hiatt,
Rolling Stone,
12 June 2026
-
Like a vibrantly hued snake darting down the narrow branch of a tree, the collective of high-performance automobiles rapidly navigates the narrow, serpentine artery along the Northeastern Italian coast, a quicksilver-like tracing of the border between Il Bel Paese and Slovenia.—
Viju Mathew,
Robb Report,
11 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tortuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tortuous. Accessed 14 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
