January 05, 2008
Saturday, 5th January 2008 : Today's Word is ...
Tortuous
Pronunciation : t�wr-choo-ess
1. with many turns or bends
2. extremely complex or intricate
3. deceitfully indirect or morally crooked, as proceedings, methods, or policy
14th century - Via Anglo-Norman - Latin tortuosus - torquere - to twist
anfractuous, bent, circuitous, convoluted, crooked, curved, flexuous, indirect, involute, mazy, meandering, meandrous, serpentine, sinuous, snaky, twisting, vermiculate, winding, zigzag
direct, straight, untwisted, easy, straightforward, uncomplicated, clear, easy, obvious, plain, simple
� We went by a tortuous road through the mountains.
� I was dissatisfied with the tortuous negotiations lasting for months.
� Days passed and nights. And then the beautiful Bermudas rose out of the sea, we entered the tortuous channel, steamed hither and thither among the bright summer islands, and rested at last under the flag of England and were welcome.
tortuously : Adverb
tortuousness: Noun
NOTE: tortuous and torturous
Even though both words come ultimately from the same Latin word, torquere meaning to twist, their meanings diverge in English. A mountain pass is tortuous (with many turns or bends), and by figurative extension, a legal argument can be tortuous (complex or intricate) as well.
A severe illness, and by figurative extension a decision may be torturous (causing anguish).
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