Tortuous

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /ˈtɔːt͡ʃuːəs/
• GenAm IPA: /ˈtɔɹt͡ʃuÉ™s/

Origin

From Latin tortuosus, from tortus ("a twisting, winding").

Full definition of tortuous

Adjective

1. Twisted; having many turns; convoluted.
• 2007 October 6, “Slogging on the Home Front”, editorial in The New York Times,It still takes almost half a year for the average veteran’s claim for disability benefits to be decided in a tortuous process that can involve four separate hearings.
• MacaulayThe badger made his dark and tortuous hole on the side of every hill where the copsewood grew thick.
2. (obsolete) injurious; tortious
3. (astrology) oblique; applied to the six signs of the zodiac (from Capricorn to Gemini) that ascend most rapidly and obliquely
• SkeatInfortunate ascendent tortuous.

Usage notes

This term has strongly negative connotations, perhaps transferred from the similar-sounding adjective torturous.

Not to be confused with the legal term tortious.