Thesaurus: insidious

Related headwords

Definitions

1. a. Lying in wait; watching an opportunity to insnare or entrap; deceitful; sly; treacherous; -- said of persons; as, the insidious foe.
2. a. Intended to entrap; characterized by treachery and deceit; as, insidious arts.
3. adj. beguiling but harmful
4. adj. intended to entrap
5. adj. working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
6. 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.
7. j:100 s. beguiling but harmful s. intended to entrap s. working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way