Tortuous vs Torturous
tortuous
twisting/winding
torturous
causing agony
How to tell them apart
torTUous = a TWisting road, winding with no extra pain. torTURous has the 'TUR' of tortURE, so it causes AGONY.
Test yourself
Fill in the blank: “Only one of these words means twisting/winding. That word is ______.”
Choose: tortuous or torturous
Show answer
Answer: tortuous
Tortuous means twisting/winding, which matches twisting/winding. Torturous means causing agony, so it is the wrong choice here.
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