tor·tu·ous (tor·choo·us | tɔrtʃuəs)
Middle English, from Latin
adjective
1) full of twists, turns, or bends; twisting, winding, or crooked.
2) not direct or straightforward, as in procedure or speech; intricate; circuitous.
3) deceitfully indirect or morally crooked, as proceedings, methods, or policy; devious.
“In cities like Athens, poor houses lined narrow and tortuous streets in spite of luxurious public buildings.” —Stephen Gardiner
Submitted by no-pants-sherlock
su·per·cil·i·ous ( soo-per-sill-i-us | supərsɪliəs )
Latin
adjective
arrogant, disdainful or haughty, cold or patronising
He answered my question with nothing more than a supercilious glare.
vo·cif·er·ous ( voh-siff-er-us | voʊsɪfərəs )
Latin
adjective
noisy or clamourous, excessively vocal, either marked by or given to vehement outcry.
The vociferous greetings every time I return are my favourite thing about keeping parrots.
quix·o·tic ( kwiks-o-tick | kwɪksɒtɪk )
from the name “Don Quixote”
adjective
behaving in a manner reminiscent of Don Quixote, i.e. extravagantly chivalrous or romantic, impulsive, unpredictable or impractical.
She is a quixotic mixture of illusion and reality.
(Source: dictionary.reference.com)
a·poc·ry·phal ( uh-poc-ruff-ull | əpɒkrəfəl )
Medieval Latin
adjective
dubious, of doubtful authenticity
All of these claims are wildly apocryphal.
bell·i·ger·ent (bell-i-jer-unt | bɛlɪdʒərənt )
Latin
adjective
aggressive and hostile, warlike,
She’s terribly belligerent if you wake her before six.
ses·quip·e·da·li·an (sess-kwip-e-day-lee-un | sɛskwɪpɛdeɪliən)
Latin
adjective
(of a word) polysyllabic, (of a person) given to using polysyllabic words.
Being almost unnaturally sesquipedalian, he is unbeatable at scrabble.
cantabile
[kahn-tah-bi-ley, -bee-, kuhn-; It. kahn-tah-bee-le] /kɑnˈtɑbɪˌleɪ, -bi-, kən-; It. kɑnˈtɑbiˌlɛ/
Italian [from Latin]
adjective:
songlike and flowing in style.
Children can turn the most mundane sentences into rather cantabile phrases.
OR
From gentle, catabile streams to harsh staccato passages, his compositions test the pianist’s skill, and often, the listener’s patience.
be·spoke [bih-spohk | /bɪˈspoʊk/]
British English
adjective
custom-made, made to order
Only on Etsy could I get a bespoke lime-green tuxedo.
