insinuate

American  

[in-sin-yoo-eyt] / ɪnˈsɪn yuˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

insinuated, insinuating

1. to suggest or hint slyly.

   He insinuated that they were lying.

2. to instill or infuse subtly or artfully, as into the mind.

   to insinuate doubts through propaganda.

   Synonyms:

   inculcate, inject, introduce

3. to bring or introduce into a position or relation by indirect or artful methods.

   to insinuate oneself into favor.

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verb (used without object)

insinuated, insinuating

1. to make insinuations.

insinuate British  

/ ɪnˈsɪnjʊˌeɪt /

verb

1. (may take a clause as object) to suggest by indirect allusion, hints, innuendo, etc

2. (tr) to introduce subtly or deviously

3. (tr) to cause (someone, esp oneself) to be accepted by gradual approaches or manoeuvres

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Related Words

See hint.

Other Word Forms

• half-insinuated adjective
• insinuative adjective
• insinuatively adverb
• insinuator noun
• insinuatory adjective
• preinsinuate verb
• preinsinuative adjective
• uninsinuated adjective
• uninsinuative adjective

Etymology

Origin of insinuate

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin insinuātus, past participle of insinuāre “to work in, instill.” See in- ², sinuous, -ate ¹

Example Sentences

He responded with, “There goes the house,” insinuating that he’s going to lose it.

From MarketWatch

The congresswoman also triggered a response from the official account of the House Committee on the Judiciary, chaired by Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, insinuating that because Miller is Jewish, her comments were antisemitic.

From Salon

“I don’t want to insinuate that we’ve lost our values. The Big Ten has had to adjust to the overall shift in college athletics and the marketplace around it.”

From The Wall Street Journal

I have lived, Jhabvala said, like “a cuckoo forever insinuating myself into others’ nests.”

From The Wall Street Journal

He also insinuated that his son was less than a man, a trauma that might explain Shepard’s stoic cowboy persona as well as his fear that his father was right.

From The Wall Street Journal