circuitous
adjective
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In J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the titular hero Bilbo Baggins takes a circuitous route to the Lonely Mountain, which he helps to reclaim from a monstrous dragon. Although he successfully arrives there—and returns home again—we do not use the adjective circuitous to suggest that his path traces a perfect circle. We’ll get straight to it: although both circuitous and its relative circuit share roots in circus, the Latin word for “circle” (and ancestor of the English words circle and circus), neither need conjure something shaped like, say, a ring. Just as the noun circuit can refer to an indirect route, circuitous describes routes which can appear circular when mapped, but can also be jagged, squiggly, etc. The point is that a journey such as Bilbo’s is not straight, short, or direct, but rather rambling. When used figuratively, circuitous describes something that is not said or done simply and clearly; an example might be a rambling speech about manners in dangerous situations when a direct “Never laugh at live dragons” would suffice.
Examples of circuitous in a Sentence
Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2025
The Equal Rights Amendment was first proposed more than a century ago and has taken a circuitous route to ratification.
—Peter Baker, New York Times, 17 Jan. 2025
They were given the key by Williams, who, after a circuitous route, admitted to the murders, police said.
—Charles Rabin, Miami Herald, 10 Jan. 2025
The energy giant also continues to insist Moldova's outstanding debts make supplying the country by other circuitous routes — such as through a Russian-Turkish pipeline that tunnels under the Black Sea — untenable.
—Charles Maynes, NPR, 9 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Circuitous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/circuitous. Accessed 31 Jan. 2025.
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