flexuous

[ flek-shoo-uhs ]

adjective

1. full of bends or curves; sinuous.

flexuous

/ ˈflɛksjʊəs; ˈflɛksjʊˌəʊs /

adjective

1. full of bends or curves; winding
2. variable; unsteady

Derived Forms

• ˈflexuously, adverb

Other Words From

• flexu·ous·ly adverb
• flexu·ous·ness noun
• sub·flexu·ous adjective
• sub·flexu·ous·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of flexuous¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin flexuōsus “full of turns, winding, crooked,” equivalent to flexu(s) ( flex ¹ ) + -ōsus -ous

Word History and Origins

Origin of flexuous¹

C17: from Latin flexuōsus full of bends, tortuous, from flexus a bending; see flex

Example Sentences

Auden wanted to steer the art away from truth-claims and toward something more flexuous and subtle—a mode, not a message.

From Slate

Stem slender, often flexuous, 1–3° high, less leafy, bearing few or several heads on divergent peduncles; leaves obovate to ovate or oblong-lanceolate, narrowed at base and ciliate, the midrib hairy beneath; scales more imbricated, thicker and more obtuse; pappus more rigid.

From Project Gutenberg

Low, decumbent, somewhat woody, diffusely branched, puberulent; branches slender, flexuous; leaves narrow; flowers few, small; capsules pubescent, about equalling the pedicel.

From Project Gutenberg

Crown of 5 free membranaceous leaflets, which are truncate or obscurely lobed at the apex, where they bear a pair of flexuous awns united at base.

From Project Gutenberg

Very similar, but smoother and deeper green, with more slender, linear-cylindric, more or less flexuous spikes, the lateral ones spreading or divaricate, and the sepals more frequently acute or acuminate.

From Project Gutenberg