circuitous
adjective
Did you know?
If you guessed that circuitous is related to circuit, you're right—both words come from Latin circuitus, the past participle of the verb circumire, meaning "to go around." Circumire is derived, in turn, from Latin circum, meaning "around," plus ire, which means "to go." Other circum descendants making the rounds in English include circumference ("the perimeter of a circle"), circumvent (one meaning of which is "to make a circuit around"), circumlocution ("the act of 'talking around' a subject"), and circumnavigate ("to go around"). There's also the prefix circum-, which means "around" or "about," and the familiar word circumstance, which describes a condition or event that "stands around" another.
Synonyms
- circular
- indirect
- roundabout
Example Sentences
BostonGlobe.com, 17 Sep. 2022 Crowds in nearby towns and villages lined the streets Sunday as her hearse meandered its way on a circuitous route to Edinburgh. Alexander Smith, NBC News, 13 Sep. 2022 Weinberg, now 61, took a circuitous route to TV writing. Samuel Braslow, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Sep. 2022 Castro traveled a circuitous route in life to end up at the school. Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2022 Webb has taken a circuitous route to Mobile since winning Alabama’s Mr. Football Award as a junior at Beauregard High School in 2017. Creg Stephenson | Cstephenson@al.com, al, 23 Aug. 2022 Oscar Gonzalez-Of-Age 24 Right-handed hitting Oscar Gonzalez has taken a bit of a circuitous route to his role on the parent Guardians. Bernie Pleskoff, Forbes, 3 Aug. 2022 Last month, after a circuitous administrative process, the group succeeded in persuading a judge to temporarily bar Wesson from performing any council duties. David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 22 Aug. 2022 While Georgia law requires a penalty of one to five years in prison for any contraband delivery to prison, delivering contraband to a state prison is not a federal crime—hence, the rather circuitous drone charges. Wired, 31 July 2022 See More Word History
perhaps from Medieval Latin circuitosus, from Latin circuitus — see circuit entry 1
1664, in the meaning defined at sense 1
circuitous
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- roundabout
- indirect
- circular
- winding
- twisting
- tortuous
- sinuous
- serpentine
- misleading
- meandering
- rambling
- prolix
- insidious
- circumlocutory
- deceptive
- verbose
- long-winded
- wandering
- subtle
- duplicitous
- curvy
- deceitful
- crooked
- devious
- tricky
- crafty
- cunning
- underhanded
- dishonest
- underhand
- calculating
- sneaky
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- direct
- straightforward
- straight
- plain
- frank
- forthright
- candid
- honest
- open
- undisguised
- unconcealed
Synonyms & Similar Words
- rambling
- circumlocutory
- prolix
- diffuse
- verbose
- wordy
- talkative
- exaggerated
- long-winded
- pleonastic
- redundant
- communicative
- garrulous
- conversational
- windy
- logorrheic
- loquacious
- voluble
- repetitious
- talky
- tautological
- chatty
- periphrastic
- gabby
- tautologous
- bombastic
- gaseous
- grandiloquent
- gassy
- hifalutin
- embellished
- embroidered
- highfalutin
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- terse
- succinct
- pithy
- concise
- short
- brief
- compact
- aphoristic
- crisp
- epigrammatic
- sententious
- compendious
- abrupt
- summary
- abbreviated
- brusque
- laconic
- blunt
- condensed
- curt
- abridged
- shortened
- snippy
- brusk