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单词 tortuous
释义
tortuous
(once / 2745 pages)
adj

Tortuous means twisting or complicated. "James Bond drove his custom BMW 120 mph on the road that was tortuous in its twists and turns. He had to stop the evil madman's plan for world domination that was so tortuous even 007 could not understand it."
From Latin torquere "to twist," tortuous means something with twists and turns –– a path, an argument, a story. It is important not to confuse it with torturous, which means characterized by great pain. "The contemporary string quartet was tortuous in its tonal shifts, but only torturous at the point where the violinist ran her nails up and down a chalkboard."
CHOOSE YOUR WORDS
tortuous / torturous

Don't torture yourself trying to remember the difference between tortuous and torturous. Tortuous describes something like the long and winding road. But torturous is what a room full of masochists might say: "Torture us!" It describes something painful, like a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Tortuous, pronounced "TOR-choo-us," describes something that has many twists and turns, like a zigzagging road or the plot of a soap opera. Here are some examples from the news,

Path to peace in Middle East still tortuous as ever. (Morning Star)

Let us walk with you down the tortuous road of this first year in college. (North by Northwestern)

Fortunately, not all technology is on the side of the companies that hide behind tortuous voicemail systems. (CNN Money)

Add another "r" for torturous, pronounced "TOR-cher-us," used to identify something that somehow involves extreme pain or suffering (torture):

Chance and Guererro stage a daring rescue of Winston from the hands of his torturous kidnappers. (TV Guide)

For the next two torturous hours, the Scarborough man was bound, beaten, robbed and left to wonder whether his wife, children and tenants were dead or alive. (canoe.ca)

He had survived homelessness, hunger and depression in a torturous journey from the Guatemalan highlands. (Washington Post)

Tortuous is descriptive, not judgmental – driving on a road that's so long and crooked it makes you dizzy is tortuous, but you might like it. Torturous is definitely judgmental. If your friend in the passenger seat is white knuckled and scared, she'd say the ride was torturous.

WORD FAMILY
tortuous: tortuosity, tortuously, tortuousness+/tortuosity: tortuosities
USAGE EXAMPLES
In 1991, The New York Times reported on the tortuous path of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Fences” to the screen.
New York Times(Dec 22, 2016)
As fighting resumed, tortuous negotiations between Damascus, Iran, Turkey, Russia and the opposition continued well into early Thursday morning, before another truce was established.
Los Angeles Times(Dec 15, 2016)
“It can be tortuous for those with PTSD.”
Washington Times(Nov 19, 2016)
1adj marked by repeated turns and bends
a tortuous road up the mountain
Syn
twisting, twisty, voluminous, winding
crooked
having or marked by bends or angles; not straight or aligned
2adj highly complex or intricate and occasionally devious
tortuous legal procedures
tortuous negotiations lasting for months
Syn
Byzantine, convoluted, involved, knotty, tangled
complex
complicated in structure; consisting of interconnected parts
3adj not straightforward
his tortuous reasoning
Syn
indirect
extended senses; not direct in manner or language or behavior or action
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更新时间:2024/9/20 12:06:37