tortuous
adjective
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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 veer away from using the term if no implication of winding or crookedness is present.
Synonyms
Examples of tortuous in a Sentence
Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times, 18 Oct. 2024
For example, having a redundant colon (also known as a tortuous colon) means that part of the large intestine is longer than normal.
—Cristina Mutchler, Health, 19 Oct. 2024
At the same time, the path to a U.S. listing has become increasingly tortuous for high-profile Chinese companies.
—Drew Bernstein, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024
There is nothing more painful, more heartbreaking, or more tortuous than wanting to grow your family and being told you can’t, especially by your own body.
—Tara Lipinski, Allure, 15 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Tortuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tortuous. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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tortuous
adjective
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