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tortuous - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'tortuous' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Tortuous [ a.]
- Bent in different directions; wreathed; twisted; winding; as, a tortuous train; a tortuous train; a tortuous leaf or corolla.
- Fig.: Deviating from rectitude; indirect; erroneous; deceitful.
- Injurious: tortious.
- Oblique; -- applied to the six signs of the zodiac (from Capricorn to Gemini) which ascend most rapidly and obliquely.

Meaning of 'tortuous' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . tortuous [ s]
Meaning (1):
- highly complex or intricate and occasionally devious
Example in sentence:
  • a knotty problem;
  • Byzantine methods for holding on to his chairmanship;
  • convoluted legal language;
  • convoluted reasoning;
  • got his way by labyrinthine maneuvering;
  • Oh, what a tangled web we weave;
  • the Byzantine tax structure;
  • the plot was too involved;
  • tortuous legal procedures;
  • tortuous negotiations lasting for months
Meaning (2):
- marked by repeated turns and bends
Example in sentence:
  • a tortuous road up the mountain;
  • had to steer the car down a twisty track;
  • winding roads are full of surprises
Meaning (3):
- not straightforward
Example in sentence:
  • his tortuous reasoning

Nearby Words:

tor torace torase torbernite torc torch torchbearer torcher torchlight torchon lace

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