Synonyms for tortuous
- adjective
Most common
winding twisting serpentine circuitous convoluted labyrinthine ambiguous
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Winding — twisted; having many turns; convoluted
winding, circuitous, twisting, serpentine, meandering, twisty, crooked, curved, sinuous, twisted, indirect, devious, roundabout, curvy, bendy, curvilinear, voluminous, sinuate, flexuous, ambagious, curvesome, anfractuous
2. Convoluted
convoluted, labyrinthine, complicated, intricate, byzantine, tangled, knotty, involved
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Twisted; having many turns; convoluted.
- adj. 2
Oblique; applied to the six signs of the zodiac (from Capricorn to Gemini) that ascend most rapidly and obliquely.
Related words
- Word family
- tortuosity tortuousness
Example sentences
- winding I'm getting tired of driving on this winding road.
- twisting Ziri started twisting and shaking the doorknob.
- circuitous The train made a circuitous route back to the city center every day.
- convoluted The plot's so convoluted, I have no idea what's going on.
- labyrinthine Tatoeba is starting to look like one of Borges' labyrinthine libraries.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| tortuous | steady | |
| winding | steady | |
| twisting | rising | |
| serpentine | falling | |
| circuitous | steady | |
| convoluted | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 5 letters
- curvy2, bendy2
- 6 letters
- curved1, twisty2, knotty2
- 7 letters
- twisted2, winding2, crooked2, tangled2, devious3, sinuous2, sinuate
- 8 letters
- involved2, indirect3, twisting2, flexuous
- 9 letters
- ambiguous4, intricate3, byzantine3, ambagious, curvesome
- 10 letters
- roundabout3, serpentine3, convoluted4, meandering4, voluminous4, circuitous4
- 11 letters
- complicated4, curvilinear, anfractuous
- 12 letters
- labyrinthine4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (curvy2 = 2 syllables).