1. (a.) Bent in different directions; wreathed; twisted; winding; as, a tortuous path\.

2. (a.) Fig.: Deviating from rectitude; indirect; erroneous; deceitful.

3. (a.) Injurious: tortuous.

4. (a.) Oblique; -- applied to the six signs of the zodiac (from Capricorn to Gemini) which ascend most rapidly and obliquely.

Gongoresque Johnsonian affected ambagious ambiguous anamorphous anfractuous askew asymmetric bedizened bent big-sounding billowing billowy bowed circuitous circumlocutory cockeyed complicated contorted convoluted convolutional cranky crazy crooked crumpled crunched curled curling curvaceous curvate curvated curve curved curvesome curviform curvilineal curvilinear curving curvy deceptive declamatory deviative devious distorted elevated euphuistic flamboyant flaming flashy flaunting flexuose flexuous fulsome garish gaudy geosynclinal grandiloquent grandiose grandisonant high-flowing high-flown high-flying high-sounding highfalutin incurvate incurvated incurved incurving indirect inkhorn intricate involute involuted involutional involved irregular labyrinthine lexiphanic lofty lopsided lurid magniloquent mazy meandering meandrous meretricious misleading nonsymmetric one-sided orotund ostentatious overdone overelaborate overinvolved overwrought pedantic pompous pretentious recurvate recurvated recurved recurving rhetorical rivose rivulose roundabout ruffled sensational sensationalistic sententious serpentine showy sinuate sinuose sinuous snaky sonorous sprung stilted tall torsional tortile tricky turning twisted twisting twisty undulant unstraightforward unsymmetric wandering warped wavy whorled winding wreathlike wreathy zigzag