devious
departing from the most direct way; circuitous; indirect: a devious course.
without definite course; vagrant: a devious current.
departing from the proper or accepted way; roundabout: a devious procedure.
not straightforward; shifty or crooked: a devious scheme to acquire wealth.
Origin of devious
1Other words for devious
Other words from devious
- de·vi·ous·ly, adverb
- de·vi·ous·ness, noun
- non·de·vi·ous, adjective
- non·de·vi·ous·ly, adverb
- non·de·vi·ous·ness, noun
- un·de·vi·ous, adjective
- un·de·vi·ous·ly, adverb
- un·de·vi·ous·ness, noun
Words Nearby devious
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use devious in a sentence
I’ve pounded the desk while doing devious British crosswords.
In Philipps’s telling, Gallagher is a soulless master manipulator who goads his men into committing war crimes in a devious effort to prevent them from turning on him.
Exceedingly devious how you hid the context with an ellipses in your tweet.
Everyone who is a critic of Carlson is engaged in some devious effort to undermine him and his supporters, the truth-teller and the real Americans.
Perhaps Tucker Carlson’s data cherry-picking isn’t limited to vaccines | Philip Bump | May 7, 2021 | Washington PostIn ways large and small, devious and immature, ingenious and inspiring, she struggled to escape.
Rocket teamed up with the Incredible Hulk to overthrow Judson Jakes, a devious mole.
11 Things to Know About Bradley Cooper’s Rocket Raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy | Marina Watts | February 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST“I love college football,” she tells me with a devious grin.
Meet the Pint-Sized Pro Golfers of Netflix’s ‘The Short Game’ | Abby Haglage | December 12, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThe alleged conspirators also used more devious means to bolster credit scores.
How to Commit a $200 Million Scam: Inside the Year’s Most Shocking Credit Card Fraud | Daniel Gross | February 6, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTBork said modern liberals have to use devious lies to get elected.
Speed Read: Best Bits From Robert Bork’s ‘Slouching Towards Gomorrah’ | Michael Moynihan | December 20, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTEasterns are born with an appetite for intrigue, with a love of walking in hidden ways and creeping along devious paths.
Bella Donna | Robert HichensThe conversation had come, by some devious route, to Vegetarianism; and the clergyman was disapproving of it.
Love's Pilgrimage | Upton SinclairFettes, with various liquors singing in his head, returned home with devious footsteps and a mind entirely in abeyance.
Tales and Fantasies | Robert Louis StevensonThe remaining bullocks strayed devious, and the douce McLaughlan blandly absorbed the sheep.
It Is Never Too Late to Mend | Charles ReadeThen he almost suspected that Lester was being devious and clever.
The Planet Strappers | Raymond Zinke Gallun
British Dictionary definitions for devious
/ (ˈdiːvɪəs) /
not sincere or candid; deceitful; underhand
(of a route or course of action) rambling; indirect; roundabout
going astray from a proper or accepted way; erring
Origin of devious
1Derived forms of devious
- deviously, adverb
- deviousness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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