# tortuous

Pronunciation: US say "TOR-choo-uhs" /ˈtɔɹt͡ʃuəs/; UK say "TAW-choo-uhs" /ˈtɔːt͡ʃuːəs/

## Adjective

1. Full of twists and turns; winding, or, figuratively, convoluted and hard to follow.
   - Simple: Having many twists and turns, like a winding road or a very complicated process.
   - _The bus crawled up a tortuous mountain road with a sheer drop on one side._
   - _After a tortuous approval process involving three separate agencies, the bridge finally opened._
2. In astrology, oblique: describing the six signs of the zodiac from Capricorn to Gemini, which ascend most rapidly and most obliquely.
   - Simple: In astrology, used for the six star signs from Capricorn to Gemini, which rise quickly and at a slant.
   - _The astrologer frowned to find the ascendant tortuous at the moment the ship set sail._
   - _An ascendant in one of the tortuous signs, such as Pisces or Taurus, was counted unfortunate._

## Adjective

3. Injurious or wrongful, in the way a tort is. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Causing harm or doing wrong to someone.

## Origin

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

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/tortuous (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).