as in winding
marked by a long series of irregular curves
a tortuous mountain road marked by numerous hairpin turns
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Recent Examples of tortuous
Rainy days aren’t much better, and the summers are quickly becoming just as tortuous.
—
Chicago Tribune, 31 May 2025
All this took place against the backdrop of a tortuous revamping of the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade into a stronger World Trade Organization.
—Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 25 May 2025
The poem tells of the Greek hero King Odysseus and his tortuous 10-year journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War.
—Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Jan. 2025
While examples abound, the state’s woebegone bullet train project, its tortuous efforts to implement information technology and the financial and managerial meltdown of its unemployment insurance program are among the most egregious.
—Dan Walters, Mercury News, 26 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tortuous
Chicago Tribune, 31 May 2025
All this took place against the backdrop of a tortuous revamping of the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade into a stronger World Trade Organization.
—Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 25 May 2025
The poem tells of the Greek hero King Odysseus and his tortuous 10-year journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War.
—Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Jan. 2025
While examples abound, the state’s woebegone bullet train project, its tortuous efforts to implement information technology and the financial and managerial meltdown of its unemployment insurance program are among the most egregious.
—Dan Walters, Mercury News, 26 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tortuous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tortuous
Adjective
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In addition, the watch has a stop-second function, which halts the balance wheel and seconds hand when the winding crown is pulled out, allowing for precise time adjustments.—
Anthony DeMarco,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
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The crash occurred on U.S. Highway 90 about 30 miles outside of New Orleans — on a winding, narrow stretch of the two-lane highway known as the Old Spanish Trail, per The Salina Journal.—
Lynsey Eidell,
People.com,
29 June 2025
Adjective
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And German actor Max Hopp, who has become something of a Tevye specialist, is able to carry this enormous production, even as he is twisted and bruised trying to accommodate the turbulent times around him.—
David Lyman,
The Enquirer,
25 July 2025
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The film Eddington inspires an uncomfortable empathy for its most twisted character.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
23 July 2025
Adjective
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Three baby Neal children, dying in 1666, 1671, and an unknown year get the skull-with-wings but also an hourglass, serpentine borders, a Latin inscription, and decorative triangles above each name.—
Brian T. Allen,
National Review,
19 July 2025
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Depicted is a serpentine landscape where the heroic raid took place.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes.com,
19 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tortuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tortuous. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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