Insidious
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ɪnˈsɪdiəs/
Origin
From Middle French insidieux, from Latin Ä«nsidiÅsus ("cunning, artful, deceitful"), from Ä«nsidiae ("a lying in wait, an ambush, artifice, stratagem") + -Åsus, from Ä«nsideÅ ("to sit in or on"), from in ("in, on") + sedeÅ ("to sit").
Full definition of insidious
Adjective
insidious
- Producing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner.
- 1847, George Lippard, The Quaker City: or, The monks of Monk-HallStrong and vigorous man as he looks, Livingstone has been for years the victim of a secret and insidious disease.
- 1997, Matthew Wood, The book of herbal wisdom: using plants as medicineAt some point in time they may become the source of an insidious cancer.
- 2007, Sharon Weinstein, Ada Lawrence Plumer, Principles and practice of intravenous therapyThe nurse always must be alert to signs of slow leak or insidious infiltration.
- Intending to entrap; alluring but harmful.
- Nathaniel HawthorneThe insidious whisper of the bad angel.
- 1948, D.V. Chitaley (editor or publisher), All India Reporter, volume 3, page 341:All these facts clearly appear to me now to establish that the sanctioned scheme was a part of a bigger and … more insidious scheme which was to hoodwink the creditors and to firmly establish and consolidate the position …
- 1969, Dorothy Brewster, John Angus Burrell, Dead reckonings in fictionThe atmosphere of this insidious city comes out to meet him the moment he touches the European shore; for in London he meets Maria Gostrey just over from France.
- 2005, Anita Desai
- This seemed to her the worst defilement into which this insidious city had cheated her and in her agitation, she nearly ran into the latrine, …
- 2007, Joseph Epstein, Narcissus Leaves the Pool, page 171:This is the insidious way sports entrap you: you follow a player, which commits you to his team. You begin to acquire scraps of utterly useless information about teammates, managers, owners, trainers, agents, lawyers.
- Hansel and Gretel were lured by the witch’s insidious gingerbread house.
- (nonstandard) Treacherous.
- 1858, Phineas Camp Headley, The life of the Empress Josephine: first wife of NapoleonBut with whom do you contract that alliance? With the natural enemy of France — that insidious house of Austria — which detests our country from feeling, system, and necessity.
- 1912, Ralph Straus, The prison without a wall‘Believe me,’ he shouted, ‘these insidious folk talk dangerous nonsense. I hear they are spouting out their ridiculous platitudes not five miles from this park in which we are standing…’
- The battle was lost due to the actions of insidious defectors.