tortuous

Definition

Twisted; having many turns; convoluted.

Etymology

From Middle English tortuous, tortuose, from Anglo-Norman and Old French tortuos, from Latin tortuōsus, from tortus (“a twisting, winding”).

Example Sentences

• "The badger made his dark and tortuous hole on the side of every hill where the copsewood grew thick."
• "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."
• "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."