Tortuous
WordNet
adjective
(1) Not straightforward
"His tortuous reasoning"
(2) Highly complex or intricate
"The Byzantine tax structure"
"Convoluted legal language"
"Convoluted reasoning"
"The plot was too involved"
"A knotty problem"
"Got his way by labyrinthine maneuvering"
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave"- Sir Walter Scott
"Tortuous legal procedures"
"Tortuous negotiations lasting for months"
(3) Marked by repeated turns and bends
"A tortuous road up the mountain"
"Winding roads are full of surprises"
"Had to steer the car down a twisty track"
WiktionaryText
Adjective
- Twisted; having many turns; convoluted.
- 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.
- 2007 October 6, “Slogging on the Home Front”, editorial in The New York Times,
Usage notes
- This term has strongly negative connotations, perhaps transferred from the similar-sounding adjective torturous.