insidious
adjective
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Origin of insidious
OTHER WORDS FROM insidious
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH insidious
insidious , invidiousWords nearby insidious
VOCAB BUILDER
What does insidious mean?
Insidious describes something as being sneaky or being secretly dangerous or harmful.
Insidious also describes something as being corrupting or intending to entrap.
The word insidious is used to describe something as being stealthy, treacherous, or operating in the shadows, as in He came up with an insidious plan to rob the jewelry store. Insidious is always associated with something negative, implying something is bad or is going to cause harm.
Insidious is also often used to describe something as appearing harmless or nonthreatening but subtly causing serious damage, as in The insidious language in the book radicalized many readers without them even knowing it.
Related to this sense, insidious is used in medicine to refer to diseases that slowly get worse and worse without any noticeable signs that they are there at all. Cancer is often described as insidious because it is often found when it is too late to treat it.
Example: The investigators were after an insidious group of hackers who were stealing government secrets.
Where does insidious come from?
The first records of insidious come from around 1535. It comes from the Latin insidiōsus, meaning “deceitful.”
The word insidious is often used in the media and popular culture to describe conspiracies, schemes, corruption, shadowy organizations, and other bad things that are done in secret.
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How is insidious used in real life?
Insidious is a word that describes something as being sneaky and up to no good.
A lot of attention has been given to WhatsApp’s privacy changes.
But the most insidious features from these companies are non-obvious but right in front of our faces.
— Tariq Patanam (@TariqPatanam) January 12, 2021
Prisons are full of insidious things but one of the most infuriating is that incarcerated people have to pay money to make a phone call. All the research we have says maintaining family ties reduces the likelihood of coming back & yet the system makes it as difficult as possible.
— Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) April 1, 2019
Today is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. An insidious crime that affects so many children and women from vulnerable populations. Need help call 1-800-373-7888. pic.twitter.com/q6oxcZ7ife
— Chief Ken Berkowitz (@ChiefBerkowitz) January 11, 2021
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Is insidious used correctly in the following sentence?
She was so cunning and crafty that we didn’t have a clue about her insidious plans until after she had betrayed us.