Synonyms for roundabout
- adjective
- noun
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Circuitous — indirect, circuitous, or circumlocutionary
circuitous, indirect, tortuous, periphrastic, circumlocutory, ambagious, devious dated
Noun
1. Traffic circle — A road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island
traffic circle US CA, rotary, circle ZA IN, island, rotunda
2. Merry-go-round
Definitions
- adj. 1
Indirect, circuitous, or circumlocutionary.
- n. 1
A road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island.
- n. 2
A horizontal wheel which rotates around a central axis when pushed and on which children ride, often found in parks as a children's play apparatus.
Related words
Forms
- Plural
- roundabouts → rotaries, circles, islands, rotundae…
Example sentences
- tortuous The five-year civil war has seen plenty of tortuous battlefield ups and downs.
- circuitous The train made a circuitous route back to the city center every day.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| roundabout | rising | |
| tortuous | steady | |
| circuitous | steady | |
| periphrastic | rising | |
| circumlocutory | falling | |
| circumambient | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 6 letters
- island2, circle2, rotary3
- 7 letters
- ambient3, devious3, rotunda3
- 8 letters
- indirect3, carousel3, tortuous3
- 9 letters
- whirligig, ambagious
- 10 letters
- encircling4, circuitous4
- 12 letters
- periphrastic
- 13 letters
- circumambient
- 14 letters
- circumlocutory
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (island2 = 2 syllables).