devious
Americanadjective
-
departing from the most direct way; circuitous; indirect.
a devious course.
- Synonyms:
- involved, tortuous, roundabout
-
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.
adjective
-
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
Other Word Forms
- deviously adverb
- deviousness noun
- nondevious adjective
- nondeviously adverb
- nondeviousness noun
- undevious adjective
- undeviously adverb
- undeviousness noun
Etymology
Origin of devious
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin dēvius “out-of-the-way, erratic,” from dē- de- + -vius (adjective derivative of via “way”)
Explanation
Devious describes someone who tends to lie and to trick other people. Devious credit card companies lure younger and younger people into debt with offers of low interest rates and even just free t-shirts. Devious sometimes just describes a path that is not direct, a meaning that can be traced to the Latin adjective devius, "out of the way," formed from the prefix de-, "off" plus via, "way, road." The related English verb deviate means to do something different or unexpected, and the adjective deviant describes behavior that is not considered normal or morally correct.
Vocabulary lists containing devious
Esperanza Rising
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"The Lady, or the Tiger?" by Frank R. Stockton
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Born a Crime
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Both incidents were a case of a lingering finger falling on to the granite after the handle was released, rather than a deliberate touch, so no suggestion of devious intent.
From BBC • Feb. 16, 2026
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.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 24, 2025
“The Young Pope” paints him to be politically devious and as dangerous as any godless politician, a description more fitting than we’re initially shown.
From Salon • May 10, 2025
The player gets played only when Dawson is challenged by a trickster even more devious than her.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2025
“As I said earlier, I trust your devious brain is working through a way out of this pickle. This town is terrifying.”
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
