Word of the Day - 09/15/25
tortuous
/'tɔrʧuəs/(adj.): highly complex or intricate and occasionally devious
The politician's argument was so tortuous that it was difficult to discern his true stance on the issue.
(adj.): marked by repeated turns and bends
The tortuous mountain path made the hike much longer than anticipated.
(adj.): not straightforward
She found the legal brief to be tortuous, full of jargon and convoluted explanations.
Word Origin
The word 'tortuous' originates from Latin. It comes from the Latin word 'tortuosus', meaning 'full of twists, winding', which itself is derived from 'tortus', the past participle of the verb 'torquere', meaning 'to twist, to turn, to wrench'. The word can be broken down into 'tortu-' (from Latin 'tortus') and the adjective suffix '-ous'.
Many English words share the same Latin root 'torquere'. Examples include 'torture' (from Latin 'tortura', a twisting), 'tort' (from Old French 'tort', meaning 'wrong', derived from Latin 'tortus' meaning 'twisted' or 'crooked'), 'contort' (from Latin 'contorquere', to twist together), 'extort' (from Latin 'extorquere', to twist out), 'distort' (from Latin 'distorquere', to twist apart), 'retort' (from Latin 'retorquere', to twist back), and 'torque' (from Latin 'torques', a twisted neck chain).