Circuitousness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being indirect or prolonged in approach involves a roundabout method of reaching a destination or achieving an objective
2. A manner of traveling or stating that avoids directness, often leading to a longer and less efficient path to a goal
3. The characteristic of being unnecessarily lengthy or complicated in a process, making the route to a conclusion less straightforward

Etymology: "Circuitousness" is a plain formation: the adjective "circuitous" with the suffix "-ness" added to turn a quality into a noun. "Circuitous" itself comes from the Latin "circuitus," a going around, from "circuire," to go round, built from "circum" (around) and "ire" (to go). The adjective describes a route that loops around rather than heading straight for its goal, so a circuitousness is the quality of taking such a roundabout course. The suffix has a longer history than the word it sits on. "-ness" descends from Old English "-nes," which formed nouns of state or quality from adjectives, so "good" became "goodness" and "dark" became "darkness." English kept adding it to new adjectives throughout its history, which is why the suffix can be stretched onto words like "circuitous" that came into English from Latin rather than from native roots.

Synonyms: indirectness, deviation

Antonyms: directness