sinuous
Americanadjective
-
having many curves, bends, or turns; winding.
a sinuous path.
- Synonyms:
- serpentine
- Antonyms:
- straight
-
indirect; devious.
sinuous questions.
- Synonyms:
- roundabout
- Antonyms:
- direct
-
characterized by a series of graceful curving motions.
a sinuous dance.
-
Botany. sinuate, as a leaf.
adjective
-
full of turns or curves; intricate
-
devious; not straightforward
-
supple; lithe
Other Word Forms
- sinuously adverb
- sinuousness noun
- subsinuous adjective
- unsinuous adjective
- unsinuously adverb
- unsinuousness noun
Etymology
Origin of sinuous
From the Latin word sinuōsus, dating back to 1570–80. See sinus, -ous
Explanation
Sinuous means winding or curvy. If you get lost on a sinuous mountain path, you'll need a compass or a GPS to figure out which direction leads back to camp. The adjective sinuous comes from the Latin word sinus, which means to curve or bend. If you have a sinuous body, then you have lots of curves. Snakes use sinuous movements to travel. Live Oak trees have particularly sinuous branches. We usually use sinuous to talk about physical shapes of bodies or pathways, but you could also describe someone's logic as sinuous if it wanders all over the place when they're trying to explain something.
Vocabulary lists containing sinuous
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The Giver
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As a swimmer, Mijbil was “boneless, mercurial, sinuous, wonderful.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026
The follow-up, 2022's Motomami, was a wildly innovative pop smash, twisting Latin American genres like cumbia and reggaeton around glitchy hip-hop beats and her playful, sinuous melodies.
From BBC • Nov. 6, 2025
Most prominent in the decoration is sinuous ivy, which curls around the entire vessel.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 10, 2025
The first thing you notice about an Ernie Barnes painting will be the distinctively sinuous way he renders human beings.
From New York Times • May 30, 2024
He was reaching for her arm, and Claire didn't want to be touched by those sinuous, silk-encased fingers.
From "Son" by Lois Lowry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
