Words / C2

TORCH-oo-uh-s/ˈtɔːtʃuəs/

Tortuous means twisting, or of an argument over-complicated: a tortuous path, a tortuous explanation. Torturous means painfully cruel — the mix-up examiners love. Winding is everyday for roads; convoluted is a close cousin for prose. Do not write tortuous for “very hard work” if you mean painful (torturous) or merely long.

Meaning

Full of twists; of an argument, excessively complicated (not “torturous” pain).

Examples

• “A tortuous footnote trail hid the missing figure.”
• “A tortuous footnote trail hid the missing n, which is complexity, not pain.”
• “A torturous wait is suffering; a tortuous sentence is too many bends.”

Good to know

Twisting / over-complicated. Mix-up: torturous (painful). Everyday roads: winding. Prose cousin: convoluted.

Near in meaning

convoluted

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