Dictionary

circuitous en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /sɚˈkjuːɪtəs/ (US)
• /sɜːˈkjuːɪtəs/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /sɚˈkjuːətəs/ (US)

Etymology

First attested in 1664. From Latin circuitōsus, from circuitus, from circumeō (“to go around”), from circum (“around”) + eō (“to go”). By surface analysis, circuit + -ous.

Meanings

1. Not direct or to the point.
2. Being a long and winding route.
   • I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed. And thus we came by a circuitous route to Mohair, the judge occupied by his own guilty thoughts, and I by others not less disturbing. 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
   • The train service on this circuitous route to the City was withdrawn during the 1914-1918 war, and never restored. The track between Addison Road and Ravenscourt Park was removed, and the site is now occupied by blocks of flats. 1947 May and June, “Richmond-Ludgate Hill Train, London & South Western Railway, at Addison Road Station About 75 Years Ago”, in Railway Magazine, page unnumbered (frontispiece):
   • The advantages of the train ferry in combining through running (without double handling) with speed and relatively large loads are shown in the decision of the Swedish State Railways to build 100 large covered and 50 open wagons for working to Britain by the ferry services, although the route from Sweden to any destination in the U.K. via Zeebrugge/Harwich is comparatively circuitous; the first of the Swedish covered wagons has already run through to London. 1962 February, “Talking of Trains: British-owned ferry wagons”, in Modern Railways, page 83:

Forms

Deriveds

circuitousness · uncircuitous · circuitously · noncircuitous

Synonyms

indirect (not direct) · tortuous (of a winding route) · circular (not direct) · roundabout (not direct) · roundabout (of a winding route)

Translations (26)

bg обиколен (being a long and winding route) · es tortuoso (being a long and winding route) · nl omslachtig (not direct or to the point) · fr tortueux (being a long and winding route) · de indirekt (not direct or to the point) · de sich windend (being a long and winding route) · de weitläufig (being a long and winding route) · bg околен (being a long and winding route) · yo kọ́lọkọ̀lọ (being a long and winding route) · sv omständlig (not direct or to the point) · fi kaarteleva (being a long and winding route) · de umschweifend (not direct or to the point) · pl okrężny (not direct or to the point) · de umständlich (being a long and winding route) · ru петляющий (being a long and winding route) · mi āwhiowhio (not direct or to the point) · ru окольный (being a long and winding route) · it tortuoso (not direct or to the point) · de weitschweifig (not direct or to the point) · bg обиколен (not direct or to the point) · de umständlich (not direct or to the point) · ru окольно (not direct or to the point) · fi epäsuora (not direct or to the point) · de verwunden (being a long and winding route) · cmn 迂迴 /迂回 (being a long and winding route) · fi kiertelevä (being a long and winding route)