circuitous
/səːˈkjuːɪtəs
/adjective
(Of a route or journey) longer than the most direct way: the canal followed a circuitous route figurative a circuitous line of reasoning...
- We had meandered off on a circuitous journey.
- Afraid of being followed, I take a circuitous route home.
- Walkers follow a circuitous route which leads along the gravel pathway through the centre of the historic Curragh racecourse.
Synonyms
roundabout, indirect, winding, meandering, serpentine, tortuous, twisting
rare anfractuous
indirect, oblique, roundabout, circumlocutory, periphrastic;
meandering, discursive, digressive, long-winded;
evasive
rare circumlocutionary, ambagious
Derivatives
circuitously
/ adverb ...- Dylan made his entrance on January 24, his route going circuitously by way of Denver and Chicago.
- Our scrambles in the Alps eventually, albeit circuitously, lead us southward to Italy.
- The domestic turkey was re-introduced into North America from Britain, taken there circuitously by the colonists of New England and Virginia.
circuitousness
- One day I brought up my discomfort with the restrictions and circuitousness of Japanese language.
- There is a circuitousness about the book that reflects the circuitousness of its topic.
- However, the circuitousness of the walk did afford us a view of the old lock system.
Origin
Mid 17th century: from medieval Latin circuitosus, from circuitus 'a way around' (see circuit).