【学个词 tortuous】tortuous - adj. 拐弯抹角的；冗长费解的；弯弯曲曲的，曲折的

Definition :adjective

　　1: marked by repeated twists, bends, or turns : WINDING

　　 a tortuous path

　　2 a : marked by devious or indirect tactics : CROOKED, TRICKY

　　 a tortuous conspiracy

　 　b: CIRCUITOUS, INVOLVED

　　 the tortuous jargon of legal forms

Did you know?

　　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折磨人的，痛苦的" 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 consider choosing a different descriptive term if no implication of winding or crookedness is present.

Synonyms-bending,crazy,crooked,curling,curved,devious,serpentine,sinuous,twisted,twisting,winding,windy

Example Sentences

　　1 a tortuous path up the mountain

　　2 a tortuous mountain road marked by numerous hairpin turns

　　3 Justifying its divinity requires the sort of tortuous logic that corrupt medieval priests would employ to render the unholy holy, and even one of the less loved versions of this unarguable icon still offers an unforgettable experience.

　　—Mike Duff, Car and Driver, 28 Nov. 2022

　　4 Few writers capture the tortuous bliss of emancipating a story as fully as Gloria Jean Watkins does.

　　—Ebony Flake, Essence, 16 Nov. 2022

　　5 The president was in a far different position from last year’s gathering, which came about during a particularly unhappy stretch in the bill’s tortuous path to passage.

　　—Chris Megerian, Fortune, 12 Nov. 2022