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Devious vs Tortuous - What's the difference?

devious | tortuous | Related terms |

Devious is a related term of tortuous.


As adjectives the difference between devious and tortuous

is that devious is deviating; not straightforward or honest, not frank; not standard while tortuous is twisted; having many turns; convoluted.

devious

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Deviating; not straightforward or honest, not frank; not standard.
  • * 1839 , Frederick Marryat, The Phantom Ship
    • Keeping close in to the shore, they discovered, after two hours run, a fresh stream which burst in a cascade from the mountains, and swept its devious course through the jungle, until it poured its tribute into the waters of the Strait.

    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 .