Tortuous Meaning
/ˈtɔːt͡ʃuːəs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjTwisted; having many turns; convoluted.
adjOblique; applied to the six signs of the zodiac (from Capricorn to Gemini) that ascend most rapidly and obliquely.
Sentence Examples
The five-year civil war has seen plenty of tortuous battlefield ups and downs.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ mountain road had so many sharp bends that it made drivers dizzy.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The path to the hidden temple was very ____ with many sharp turns and several narrow passages today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English tortuous, tortuose, from Anglo-Norman and Old French tortuos, from Latin tortuōsus, from tortus (“a twisting, winding”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The badger made his dark and tortuous hole on the side of every hill where the copsewood grew thick."
— 1848, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume 1, Porter & Coates, page 243:
"The Southern acquired them because the little Class "B4" 0-4-0 tanks were finding heavy modern rolling stock more and more of a handful, and at war's end the railway had nothing of suitable power but short wheelbase on its books to take their place on the more tortuous of the dock lines."
— 1959 February, G. Freeman Allen, “Southampton—Gateway to the Ocean”, in Trains Illustrated, page 91:
"But the early Tubes still tended to follow the public streets in order to save money, hence some tortuous curves."
— 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 109:
"Infortunate ascendent tortuous."
— 1872, Walter William Skeat, Chaucer's A Treatise on the Astrolabe:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ mountain road had so many sharp bends that it made drivers dizzy.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The path to the hidden temple was very ____ with many sharp turns and several narrow passages today.