'Insidious' definitions:
Definition of 'insidious'
From: WordNet
adjective
Beguiling but harmful; "insidious pleasures"
adjective
Intended to entrap
adjective
Working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way; "glaucoma is an insidious disease"; "a subtle poison" [syn: insidious, pernicious, subtle]
Definition of 'Insidious'
From: GCIDE
- Insidious \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.] [1913 Webster]
- 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. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Intended to entrap; characterized by treachery and deceit; as, insidious arts. [1913 Webster]
- The insidious whisper of the bad angel. --Hawthorne. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Acting or proceeding unobserved or in a seemingly harmless manner, but slowly or eventually doing great damage; as, an insidious disease; an insidious plot. [PJC]
- 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. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'insidious'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- 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