Adjective tortuous has 3 senses
- Byzantine, convoluted, intricate, involved, knotty, labyrinthine, tangled, tortuous - highly involved or intricate; "the Byzantine tax structure"; "convoluted legal language"; "convoluted reasoning"; "intricate needlework"; "an intricate labyrinth of refined phraseology"; "the plot was too involved"; "a knotty problem"; "got his way by labyrinthine maneuvering"; "Oh, what a tangled web we weave"- Sir Walter Scott; "tortuous legal procedures"; "tortuous negotiations lasting for months"
Antonym: simple (indirect, via complex)
- tortuous, twisting, twisty, winding - marked by repeated turns and bends; "a tortuous road up the mountain"; "winding roads are full of surprises"; "had to steer the car down a twisty track"
Antonym: straight (indirect, via crooked)
- tortuous - not straightforward; "his tortuous reasoning"
Antonym: direct (indirect, via indirect)
,