treacherous
Americanadjective
-
characterized by faithlessness or readiness to betray trust; traitorous.
- Synonyms:
- treasonous, faithless, unfaithful
- Antonyms:
- loyal
-
deceptive, untrustworthy, or unreliable.
- Synonyms:
- deceitful
- Antonyms:
- reliable
-
unstable or insecure, as footing.
-
a treacherous climb.
adjective
-
betraying or likely to betray faith or confidence
-
unstable, unreliable, or dangerous
treacherous weather
treacherous ground
Other Word Forms
- treacherously adverb
- treacherousness noun
- untreacherous adjective
- untreacherousness noun
Etymology
Origin of treacherous
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English trecherous, from Anglo-French, equivalent to trecher “deceiver” ( trech(ier) “to deceive” + -er -er 2 ) + -ous -ous; compare French tricheur “trickster”
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.
Other sectors are catching up, and some fear that the entire market is in treacherous territory.
From Barron's
In a series of flashbacks from last week's episodes, Winkleman was seen appointing Fiona, with the contestant responding: "I will do my best to be as treacherous as possible", adding she was "drunk on power".
From BBC
In Scotland, the police cautioned road users not to try to drive through closed roads because of the treacherous conditions.
From Barron's
Widespread snow accumulations in recent days have already led to treacherous driving conditions with numerous reports of vehicles getting stuck.
From BBC
Network Rail said snow patrol locomotives had been running on the Highland Main Line, Aberdeen-Inverness and Far North Lines but said the weather and road conditions for its response teams were treacherous.
From BBC
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.
