tortuous
/ˈtɔɹt͡ʃuəs/adjective
tortuous is spelled T-O-R-T-U-O-U-S: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 44,209th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, tortuous means “Twisted; having many turns; convoluted” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in tortuous?
| Letters | 8: T-O-R-T-U-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 44,209th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is tortuous?
Tortuous appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 44,209th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tortuous?
- UK /ˈtɔːt͡ʃuːəs/
- US /ˈtɔɹt͡ʃuəs/
Tortuous has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-tortuous.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of tortuous
- more tortuous comparative
- most tortuous superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tortuous mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Twisted; having many turns; convoluted.
- 2
Oblique; applied to the six signs of the zodiac (from Capricorn to Gemini) that ascend most rapidly and obliquely.
- 3
obsoleteInjurious; tortious.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tortuous in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense twisted:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tortuous come from?
From Middle English tortuous, tortuose, from Anglo-Norman and Old French tortuos, from Latin tortuōsus, from tortus (“a twisting, winding”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).