tortuosity
State of curvedness
Tortuosity is the quality of being winding, twisted, or full of turns.
The word appears most often in technical contexts—describing blood vessels, river channels, or porous materials: The tortuosity of the capillaries made imaging difficult.
It can also describe indirect or convoluted reasoning, though this figurative use is less common than the physical sense.
Curving in flowing turns
- windingCurving repeatedly, sinuous
- serpentineCurving in repeated bends
- coilWound circular arrangement
- spiralCurve winding around center
helix · meander · bend · curve · loop · undulate · oxbow · convolution
Indirect, wordy expression
- evasionAct of escaping detection
- equivocationAmbiguous language avoiding commitment
- obliquenessLack of directness
- circuitousnessLack of directness
roundabout · digression · meandering · ambiguity · devious · verbose · rambling · tangential
Extremely complex and winding
- convolutedExcessively complex or twisted
- byzantineDauntingly intricate and devious
- intricateElaborately detailed, many parts
- knottyComplex and difficult
entangled · elaborate · perplexing · maze · enigmatic · baffling · cryptic · tangled
Tiny dermal opening
- matrixOrdered numerical arrangement
- membraneThin tissue sheet
- capillarySmallest blood vessel
- microporousHaving microscopic holes
permeability · diffusion · filtration · void · absorption · sponge · zeolite · porosity
Abnormal bodily narrowing
- occlusionComplete closure or blockage
- aneurysmArterial wall bulge
- arteryOxygen-rich blood conduit
- vesselReceptacle for contents
lumen · constriction · stricture · blockage · plaque · atherosclerosis · angulation · catheter
sinuous
Curving in flowing turns
- windingCurving repeatedly, sinuous
- serpentineCurving in repeated bends
- coilWound circular arrangement
spiral · helix · meander · bend · curve · loop · undulate · oxbow · convolution · flexure
circumlocution
Indirect, wordy expression
- evasionAct of escaping detection
- equivocationAmbiguous language avoiding commitment
- obliquenessLack of directness
circuitousness · roundabout · digression · meandering · ambiguity · devious · verbose · rambling · tangential · prolixity
labyrinthine
Extremely complex and winding
- convolutedExcessively complex or twisted
- byzantineDauntingly intricate and devious
- intricateElaborately detailed, many parts
knotty · entangled · elaborate · perplexing · maze · enigmatic · baffling · cryptic · tangled · involuted
pore
Tiny dermal opening
microporous · permeability · diffusion · filtration · void · absorption · sponge · zeolite · porosity · trabecular
stenosis
Abnormal bodily narrowing
vessel · lumen · constriction · stricture · blockage · plaque · atherosclerosis · angulation · catheter · angiography
tortuositystraightness
Absence of curvature
linearity · directness · straight line · linear path · unbent
tortuositydirectness
Quality of being straightforward
straightforwardness · simplicity · clarity · linearity · plainness
tortuositystraightforwardness
Quality of being direct
directness · candor · frankness · honesty · forthrightness
torment, retort, distort, distortion, contort, extort, extortion, tortuous, torte