Sinuous Meaning
/ˈsɪn.ju.əs/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjHaving curves in alternate directions; meandering.
adjMoving gracefully and in a supple manner.
Sentence Examples
The hikers followed a sinuous path that twisted through the forest.
A sinuous coastline makes navigation difficult for inexperienced sailors.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
None
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The river's ____ path through the valley created many loops and bends.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The river followed a ____ path as it wound its way through the green valley.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sinos Proto-Italic *sinus Latin sinus Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.? Proto-Italic *-ōtsos or *-otsos Latin -ōsus Latin sinuōsuslbor. English sinuous Learned borrowing from Latin sinuōsus.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[W]hen a transverse, or, within certain limits, an oblique impulse, impinges laterally upon a continuous mountain range, two movements of vibration are communicated; the one, a wave transmitted along and in the line of the axis, the other a transverse wave, which causes the axial line to sway laterally, and transmit a quam prox. horizontal transverse wave, along from one end to the other; like the sinuous movement which travels along a long rope when, hanging suspended between two points at the same level, it is jerked suddenly at one end, transversely to its length."
— 1862, Robert Mallet, Great Neapolitan Earthquake of 1857: The First Principles of Observational Seismology as Developed in the Report to the Royal Society of London of the Expedition Made by Command of the Society into the Interior of the Kingdom of Naples, to Investigate the Circumstances of the Great Earthquake of December 1857. … In Two Volumes, volume II, London: Chapman & Hall, page 276:
"[A] peculiar luminous and sinuous marking appeared on the unillumined half of the inner planet, and almost simultaneously a faint dark mark of a similar sinuous character was detected upon a photograph of the Martian disc."
— 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 300:
"The way through the wood was shorter, but it was also sinuous. He missed his way, and, as a direct consequence, missed his train."
— 1922, E[dith] Nesbit, The Lark, London: Hutchinson, →OCLC:
"My own apprehension rose again to a superlative pitch as we swept down from St. Neots at all but 110 m.p.h. towards those sinuous curves round the bank of the Ouse near Offord, and were almost on to them before we suddenly braked."
— 1941 June, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 263:
"This is the perfect climbing tree: wrought by two centuries of good London living, its sinuous spread presents any number of routes into the canopy."
— 2016 March 28, Jack Cooke, “Heaven up here: the joy of urban tree climbing”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 25 Apr 2016:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The river's ____ path through the valley created many loops and bends.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The river followed a ____ path as it wound its way through the green valley.