sinuous
adjective
Did you know?
Although it probably makes you think more of snakes than head colds, sinuous is etymologically more like sinus than serpent. Sinuous and sinus both derive from the Latin noun sinus, which means "curve, fold, or hollow." Other sinus descendants include insinuate ("to impart or suggest in an artful or indirect way") and two terms you might remember from math class: sine and cosine. In English, sinus is the oldest of these words; it entered the language in the 1400s. Insinuate appeared next, in the early 1500s, and was followed by sinuous and sine in the latter half of the 1500s, and cosine in the 1600s. Serpent, by the way, entered English in the 13th century and comes from the Latin verb serpere, meaning "to creep."
Synonyms
Examples of sinuous in a Sentence
Julia Teti, WWD, 14 Jan. 2025
Patinir’s painterly eye knows well the sinuous gradations that can be drawn from a hot monochrome.
—Teju Cole, The New Yorker, 10 Jan. 2025
Over the ensuing decades, the mixture of water, sand, cement, and rebar brought forth buildings that were tough, tall, sinuous, mass-produced, and wildly complex.
—Justin Davidson, Curbed, 8 Jan. 2025
This is credited to the smooth platform foundation’s ability to prevent the dips and sags that can occur with sinuous spring foundations.
—Maria Conti, Better Homes & Gardens, 3 Jan. 2025
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Dictionary Entries Near sinuous
Cite this Entry
“Sinuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sinuous. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
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