6 entries found for tortuous.
tor·tu·ous ( P ) Pronunciation Key (tôrch-s)
adj.
Having or marked by repeated turns or bends; winding or twisting: a tortuous road through the mountains.
Not straightforward; circuitous; devious: a tortuous plot; tortuous reasoning.
Highly involved; complex: tortuous legal procedures.
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[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman, from Latin tortusus, from tortus, a twisting, from past participle of torqure, to twist. See terkw- in Indo-European Roots.]
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tortu·ous·ly adv.
tortu·ous·ness n.
Usage Note: Although tortuous and torturous both come from the Latin word torqure, “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” or “strained,” and tortured is an even stronger synonym: tortured reasoning.
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Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
tor·tu·ous (tôrch-s)
adj.
Having many turns; winding or twisting.
Source: The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Main Entry: tor·tu·ous
Pronunciation: 'torch-(&-)w&s
Function: adjective
: marked by repeated twists, bends, or turns <a tortuous blood vessel> —tor·tu·os·i·ty /'tor-ch&-'wäs-&t-E/ noun plural -ties
—tor·tu·rous·ly adverb
Source: Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
tortuous
tortuous was Word of the Day on September 12, 1999.
Source: Dictionary.com Word of the Day
tortuous
adj 1: highly involved or intricate; "the Byzantine tax structure"; "convoluted legal language"; "convoluted reasoning"; "intricate needlework"; "an intricate labyrinth of refined phraseology"; "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" [syn: Byzantine, convoluted, intricate, involved, knotty, labyrinthine, tangled] 2: 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" [syn: twisting, twisty, winding] 3: not straightforward; "his tortuous reasoning" |
