devious

[dee-vee-uhs]

adjective

1. departing from the most direct way; circuitous; indirect.

   a devious course.

   Synonyms: involved, tortuous, roundabout

2. without definite course; vagrant.

   a devious current.

3. departing from the proper or accepted way; roundabout.

   a devious procedure.

4. not straightforward; shifty or crooked.

   a devious scheme to acquire wealth.

   Synonyms: sly, artful, crafty, cunning, subtle

devious

/ ˈdiːvɪəs /

adjective

1. not sincere or candid; deceitful; underhand

2. (of a route or course of action) rambling; indirect; roundabout

3. going astray from a proper or accepted way; erring

Other Word Forms

• deviously adverb
• deviousness noun
• nondevious adjective
• nondeviously adverb
• nondeviousness noun
• undevious adjective
• undeviously adverb
• undeviousness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of devious¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin dēvius “out-of-the-way, erratic,” from dē- de- + -vius (adjective derivative of via “way”)

Word History and Origins

Origin of devious¹

C16: from Latin dēvius lying to one side of the road, from _de- + via road

Example Sentences

The White House is breaking windows such that few will pay close attention to behavior that is more devious and self-serving.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Now, as third baseman Max Muncy said with a devious grin from atop a makeshift stage in the Dodger Stadium outfield, “it’s starting to get a little bit comfortable up here. Let’s keep it going.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Meanwhile the narrator’s financially devious husband appears as a vulture with “the brooding eye, the blood-tipped beak, the flabby folds of flesh” of a bird of prey.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The first page calls the team owners “narcissistic,” “devious” and “megalomaniacal capitalists,” and Mr. Smith has barely warmed up.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Using the same paint to render George and Bertha, however, yields a devious kind of portrait.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• calculating 
• deceitful 
• duplicitous 
• fraudulent 
• insidious 
• insincere 
• shrewd 
• sly 
• sneaky 
• underhanded 
• wily