circuitous
adjective
Did you know?
If you guessed that circuitous is related to circuit, you're right—both words come from Latin circuitus, the past participle of the verb circumire, meaning "to go around." Circumire is derived, in turn, from Latin circum, meaning "around," plus ire, which means "to go." Other circum descendants making the rounds in English include circumference ("the perimeter of a circle"), circumvent (one meaning of which is "to make a circuit around"), circumlocution ("the act of 'talking around' a subject"), and circumnavigate ("to go around"). There's also the prefix circum-, which means "around" or "about," and the familiar word circumstance, which describes a condition or event that "stands around" another.
Examples of circuitous in a Sentence
Cindy Shmerler, New York Times, 24 May 2024
In 2018, Netflix canceled all of their Marvel series, and once Disney eventually reacquired the distribution rights, Marvel Studios took a very circuitous route to officially declaring them MCU canon.
—Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for circuitous 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'circuitous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Circuitous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/circuitous. Accessed 3 Jun. 2024.
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