Get Affordable VMs - excellent virtual server hosting


browse words by letter
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
insidious

more about insidious

insidious


  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Insidious  \In*sid"i*ous\,  a.  [L.  insidiosus,  fr  insidiae  an 
  ambush,  fr  insidere  to  sit  in  pref.  in-  +  sedere  to  sit: 
  cf  F.  insidieux  See  {Sit}.] 
  1.  Lying  in  wait;  watching  an  opportunity  to  insnare  or 
  entrap;  deceitful;  sly;  treacherous;  --  said  of  persons; 
  as  the  insidious  foe.  ``The  insidious  witch.''  --Cowper. 
 
  2.  Intended  to  entrap;  characterized  by  treachery  and  deceit; 
  as  insidious  arts. 
 
  The  insidious  whisper  of  the  bad  angel.  --Hawthorne. 
 
  {Insidious  disease}  (Med.),  a  disease  existing,  without 
  marked  symptoms,  but  ready  to  become  active  upon  some 
  slight  occasion;  a  disease  not  appearing  to  be  as  bad  as 
  it  really  is 
 
  Syn:  Crafty;  wily;  artful;  sly;  designing;  guileful; 
  circumventive;  treacherous;  deceitful;  deceptive.  -- 
  {In*sid"i*ous*ly},  adv  --  {In*sid"i*ous*ness},  n. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  insidious 
  adj  1:  beguiling  but  harmful;  "insidious  pleasures" 
  2:  intended  to  entrap 
  3:  working  or  spreading  in  a  hidden  and  usually  injurious  way 
  "a  subtle  poison"  [syn:  {pernicious},  {subtle}] 




more about insidious