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Convoluted vs Tortuous - What's the difference?

convoluted | tortuous |

As adjectives the difference between convoluted and tortuous

is that convoluted is having numerous overlapping coils or folds while tortuous is twisted; having many turns; convoluted.

convoluted

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Having numerous overlapping coils or folds.
  • Complex, intricate or complicated.
    • He gave a convoluted explanation that amounted to little more than a weak excuse for his absence.

    Related terms

    * convolve * convolute * convolution

    tortuous

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Twisted; having many turns; convoluted.
  • * 2007 October 6, “Slogging on the Home Front”, editorial in ,
    • 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.
  • * Macaulay
    • The badger made his dark and tortuous hole on the side of every hill where the copsewood grew thick.
  • (obsolete) injurious; tortious
  • (astrology) oblique; applied to the six signs of the zodiac (from Capricorn to Gemini) that ascend most rapidly and obliquely
  • * Skeat
    • Infortunate ascendent tortuous .

    Usage notes

    * This term has strongly negative connotations, perhaps transferred from the similar-sounding adjective torturous . * Not to be confused with the legal term tortious .