tortuous

Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia.

tortuous

circuitous; devious; full of twists, turns, or bends: a tortuous road up the mountain

Not to be confused with:

torturous – pertains to suffering: We toil in the torturous heat.

tor·tu·ous

(tôr′cho͞o-əs)

adj.

1. Having or marked by repeated turns or bends; winding or twisting: a tortuous road through the mountains.

2. Not straightforward; circuitous; devious: a tortuous plot; tortuous reasoning.

3. Highly involved; complex: tortuous legal procedures.

[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman, from Latin tortuōsus, from tortus, a twisting, from past participle of torquēre, to twist; see terk^w- in Indo-European roots.]

tor′tu·ous·ly adv.

tor′tu·ous·ness n.

Usage Note: Although tortuous and torturous both come from the Latin word torquēre, "to twist," their primary meanings are distinct. Tortuous means "twisting" (a tortuous road) or by extension "complex" or "devious." Torturous refers primarily to torture and the pain associated with it. However, torturous also can be used in the sense of "twisted, strained, belabored" and tortured is an even stronger synonym: a tortured analogy.

tortuous

(ˈtɔːtjʊəs)

adj

1. twisted or winding: a tortuous road.

2. devious or cunning: a tortuous mind.

3. intricate

ˈtortuously adv

ˈtortuousness n

tor•tu•ous

(ˈtɔr tʃu əs)

adj.

1. full of twists, turns, or bends; twisting, winding, or crooked.

2. not direct or straightforward, as in procedure or speech; circuitous: tortuous negotiations.

3. deceitfully indirect or morally crooked; devious.

[1350–1400; Middle English < Latin tortuōsus=tortu(s) a twisting (tor(quēre) to twist, bend + -tus suffix of v. action) + -ōsus -ous]

tor′tu•ous•ly, adv.

tor′tu•ous•ness, n.

usage: See torturous.

tortuous

, torturous - Tortuous is "winding, crooked, full of twists and turns," and torturous, based on "torture," is "painful, characterized by suffering."

tortuous

adjective

1. winding, twisting, meandering, bent, twisted, curved, crooked, indirect, convoluted, serpentine, zigzag, sinuous, circuitous, twisty, mazy a tortuous mountain route

2. complicated, involved, misleading, tricky, indirect, ambiguous, roundabout, deceptive, devious, convoluted, mazy long and tortuous negotiations
complicated direct, straightforward, open, reliable, upright, honest, candid, ingenuous

Usage: The adjective tortuous is sometimes confused with torturous. A tortuous road is one that winds or twists, while a torturous experience is one that involves pain, suffering, or discomfort.

tortuous

adjective

1. Repeatedly curving in alternate directions:

anfractuous, flexuous, meandrous, serpentine, sinuous, snaky, winding.

2. Not taking a direct or straight line or course:

anfractuous, circuitous, circular, devious, indirect, oblique, roundabout.

Translations

tortuoso

tortueux

anfrattuoso tortuoso

tortuous

[ˈtɔːtjʊəs] ADJ

1. (= winding) [path, road, process] → tortuoso

2. (= convoluted) [sentence, essay, logic] → enrevesado

tortuous

[ˈtɔː^rtʃuəs] adj

[route, road] → tortueux/euse

[logic, argument, process] → tortueux/euse

tortuous

adj (lit) path → gewunden; (fig) → verwickelt; methods also, person, journey → umständlich

tortuous

[ˈtɔːtjʊəs] adj → tortuoso/a

tor·tu·ous

a. tortuoso-a; torcido-a; sinuoso-a.

References in classic literature ?

As, unfortunately, the Queen's highway ran down in tortuous descent to the handful of fishermen's cottages that had clung there limpet-like for ages, there was always a chance of such a stray visitation; but it was remote, and the whole place, hand and heart, was in the pocket of my lord.

View in context

Days passed--and nights; and then the beautiful Bermudas rose out of the sea, we entered the tortuous channel, steamed hither and thither among the bright summer islands, and rested at last under the flag of England and were welcome.

View in context

He thanked Providence for having sent this happy idea to him; but, as he was preparing to cross the Place, in order to reach the tortuous labyrinth of the city, where meander all those old sister streets, the Rues de la Barillerie, de la Vielle-Draperie, de la Savaterie, de la Juiverie, etc., still extant to-day, with their nine-story houses, he saw the procession of the Pope of the Fools, which was also emerging from the court house, and rushing across the courtyard, with great cries, a great flashing of torches, and the music which belonged to him, Gringoire.

View in context

Little did she realize that the tortuous and distorted evolution of the next three centuries would compel a Third Revolt and a Fourth Revolt, and many Revolts, all drowned in seas of blood, ere the world-movement of labor should come into its own.

View in context

Increasing his gait but slightly he followed the tortuous windings of the trail until suddenly just before him, where the trail wound about the bole of a huge tree, he saw a young buck moving slowly ahead of him.

View in context

All the mystery and witchery of the night seemed to have gathered there amid the perfumes and the dusky and tortuous outlines of flowers and foliage.

View in context

But Commander Farragut would not take a tortuous passage, but doubled Cape Horn.

View in context

Sherlock Holmes was never at fault, however, and he muttered the names as the cab rattled through squares and in and out by tortuous by-streets.

View in context

The boat moved on,--freighted with its weight of sorrow,--up the red, muddy, turbid current, through the abrupt tortuous windings of the Red river; and sad eyes gazed wearily on the steep red-clay banks, as they glided by in dreary sameness.

View in context

So complicated, however, was the nature of this particular business transaction, and so tortuous the paths of its progress (partly owing to the complete disappearance of the owner of the horse, who had gone to the West and left no address), that it took the sheriff many weeks to prove Mr.

View in context

Ground which is reached through narrow gorges, and from which we can only retire by tortuous paths, so that a small number of the enemy would suffice to crush a large body of our men: this is hemmed in ground.

View in context

An unguided ramble into its recesses in bad weather is apt to engender dissatisfaction with its narrow, tortuous, and miry ways.

Adj.	1.	tortuous - highly complex or intricate and occasionally devious; "the Byzantine tax structure"; "Byzantine methods for holding on to his chairmanship"; "convoluted legal language"; "convoluted reasoning"; "the plot was too involved"; "a knotty problem"; "got his way by labyrinthine maneuvering"; "Oh, what a tangled web we weave"- Sir Walter Scott; "tortuous legal procedures"; "tortuous negotiations lasting for months" convoluted, tangled, Byzantine, knotty, involved complex - complicated in structure; consisting of interconnected parts; "a complex set of variations based on a simple folk melody"; "a complex mass of diverse laws and customs"
	2.	tortuous - marked by repeated turns and bends; "a tortuous road up the mountain"; "winding roads are full of surprises"; "had to steer the car down a twisty track" twisting, twisty, winding, voluminous crooked - having or marked by bends or angles; not straight or aligned; "crooked country roads"; "crooked teeth"
	3.	tortuous - not straightforward; "his tortuous reasoning" indirect - extended senses; not direct in manner or language or behavior or action; "making indirect but legitimate inquiries"; "an indirect insult"; "doubtless they had some indirect purpose in mind"; "though his methods are indirect they are not dishonest"; "known as a shady indirect fellow"