Meaning of INSIDIOUS
| Pronunciation: | | in'sideeus
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 WordNet Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | |
- [adj] working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way; "glaucoma is an insidious disease"; "a subtle poison"
- [adj] intended to entrap
- [adj] beguiling but harmful; "insidious pleasures"
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| | Synonyms: | | dangerous, harmful, pernicious, seductive, subtle, unsafe |
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| Webster's 1913 Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | | \In*sid"i*ous\, a. [L. insidiosus, fr. insidiae an
ambush, fr. insidere to sit in; pref. in- + sedere to sit:
cf. F. insidieux. See {Sit}.]
1. Lying in wait; watching an opportunity to insnare or
entrap; deceitful; sly; treacherous; -- said of persons;
as, the insidious foe. ``The insidious witch.'' --Cowper.
2. Intended to entrap; characterized by treachery and deceit;
as, insidious arts.
The insidious whisper of the bad angel. --Hawthorne.
{Insidious disease} (Med.), a disease existing, without
marked symptoms, but ready to become active upon some
slight occasion; a disease not appearing to be as bad as
it really is.
Syn: Crafty; wily; artful; sly; designing; guileful;
circumventive; treacherous; deceitful; deceptive. --
{In*sid"i*ous*ly}, adv. -- {In*sid"i*ous*ness}, n.
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| Thesaurus Terms |
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| | Related Terms: | | acute, amoral, arch, artful, astute, Byzantine, cagey, calculating, canny, chiseling, clever, collusive, conscienceless, corrupt, corrupted, covinous, crafty, criminal, crooked, cunning, cute, dangerous, dark, deceitful, deep, deep-laid, designing, devious, diplomatic, dishonest, dishonorable, doubtful, dubious, evasive, false, falsehearted, feline, felonious, finagling, fishy, foxy, fraudulent, furtive, gradual, guileful, ill-got, ill-gotten, immoral, indirect, ingenious, inventive, knowing, Machiavellian, Machiavellic, not kosher, pawky, perfidious, perilous, politic, questionable, ready, resourceful, rotten, scheming, serpentine, shady, shameless, sharp, shifty, shrewd, sinister, slick, slippery, sly, smooth, snaky, sneaky, sophistical, stealthy, strategic, subtile, subtle, supple, surreptitious, suspicious, tactical, treacherous, trickish, tricksy, tricky, two-faced, unconscienced, unconscientious, unconscionable, underhand, underhanded, unethical, unprincipled, unsavory, unscrupulous, unstraightforward, vulpine, wary, wily, without remorse, without shame |
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