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insidious - 20 thesaurus results
| Main Entry: | insidious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | sneaky, tricky |
| Synonyms: | Machiavellian, artful, astute, corrupt, crafty, crooked, cunning, dangerous, deceitful, deceptive, deep, designing, dishonest, disingenuous, duplicitous, false, foxy, intriguing, perfidious, perilous, secret, slick, sly, smooth, snaky*, stealthy, subtle, surreptitious, treacherous, wily, wormlike, ensnaring, guileful, like a snake in the grass, sneaking |
| Notes: | insidious (Latin insidere 'to lie in wait for,' from sedere 'sit') describes stealthy, treacherous behavior; invidious behavior arouses ill will, animosity, or hostility |
| Antonyms: | fair, honest, open, sincere |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | crafty |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | clever, scheming |
| Synonyms: | adroit, artful, astute, cagey, calculating, canny, cunning, deceitful, deep, designing, devious, disingenuous, duplicitous, foxy*, fraudulent, insidious, intelligent, keen, knowing, sharp, shrewd, slick, slippery*, sly, smart, smooth, street smart*, subtle, tricky, vulpine, wily, crazy like fox, guileful, streetwise |
| Antonyms: | honest, naive, unclever |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | deceitful |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | dishonest, insincere |
| Synonyms: | artful, astute, clandestine, counterfeit, crafty, cunning, deceptive, delusive, designing, disingenuous, double-dealing, duplicitous, fallacious, false, feline, foxy, fraudulent, furtive, hypocritical, illusory, indirect, insidious, knavish, lying, mendacious, misleading, rascal, roguish, shifty, slick, sly, sneaky, stealthy, subtle, treacherous, tricky, two-faced*, underhand, underhanded, untrustworthy, untruthful, wily, astucious, beguiling, deceiving, delusory, guileful, impostrous |
| Antonyms: | faithful, frank, honest, loyal, open, sincere, trustworthy, truthful, upright |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | deceptive |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | dishonest |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, bum*, catchy, crafty, cunning, deceitful, delusive, designing, disingenuous, fake, fallacious, false, fishy, foxy, fraudulent, illusory, indirect, insidious, lying, misleading, mock, oblique, off*, phony, plausible, rascal, roguish, scheming, seeming, serpentine, shifty, slick, slippery, sly, sneaky, snide, specious, spurious, subtle, treacherous, tricky, two-faced*, underhand, underhanded, unreliable, wily, astucious, beguiling, deceiving, deluding, delusory, imposturous |
| Antonyms: | forthright, frank, honest, open, truthful, upright |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | disingenuous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | insincere |
| Synonyms: | artful, crooked, cunning, deceitful, designing, dishonest, duplicitous, false, feigned, foxy, indirect, insidious, mendacious, oblique, shifty*, sly, tricky, two-faced*, underhanded, unfair, wily, guileful, uncandid, unfrank |
| Antonyms: | frank, honest, ingenuous, naive, sincere |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | foxy |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | shrewd |
| Synonyms: | artful, astute, canny, crafty, cunning, deceitful, deep, devious, dishonest, experienced, insidious, intelligent, knowing, sharp, slick, sly, subtle, tricky, vulpine, wily, guileful, retiary |
| Antonyms: | naive, unintelligent, unclever, unsmart |
| Main Entry: | furtive |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | sneaky, secretive |
| Synonyms: | artful, calculating, cautious, circumspect, clandestine, cloaked, covert, crafty*, creepy*, cunning, disguised, elusive, evasive, foxy, hidden, hush-hush*, insidious, masked, scheming, shifty*, sly, stealthy, surreptitious, tricky*, under wraps*, undercover, underhand, underhanded, wily, conspiratorial, guileful, skulking, slinking, sub-rosa, under-the-table |
| Antonyms: | aboveboard, forthright, honest, open, truthful |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | mischievous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | devilish, wicked |
| Synonyms: | arch, artful, bad, bothersome, damaging, dangerous, deleterious, destructive, detrimental, evil, foxy*, frolicsome, harmful, hazardous, holy terror*, hurtful, ill, impish, injurious, insidious, irksome, malicious, malignant, naughty, nocuous, perilous, pernicious, playful, precarious, puckish, rascal, risky, rude, sinful, sly, spiteful, sportive, teasing, tricky, troublesome, vexatious, vicious, wayward, dickens, exasperating, ill-behaved, misbehaving, rascally, vexing |
| Antonyms: | good, nice, obedient, behaved |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | perfidious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | treacherous |
| Synonyms: | deceitful, deceptive, double-dealing*, faithless, false, insidious, misleading, recreant, shifty*, slick*, snake in the grass, traitorous, two-faced*, two-timing, undependable, unfaithful, unreliable, untrustworthy, betraying, double-crossing, unloyal |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | shifty |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | deceitful, untrustworthy |
| Synonyms: | cagey, collusive, crafty, crooked, cunning, devious, dishonest, duplicitous, elusive, evasive, fly-by-night*, foxy, fraudulent, furtive, insidious, lying, mendacious, roguish, scheming, shady, shrewd, slick, slimy*, slippery, sly, sneaky, treacherous, tricky, underhand, unprincipled, untruthful, wily, conniving, contriving, dodging, equivocating, prevaricative, prevaricatory, shuffling, unhonest |
| Antonyms: | forthright, frank, honest, trustworthy |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | sly |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | clever, devious |
| Synonyms: | arch, artful, astute, cagey, calculating, canny, captious, covert, crafty, crooked, cunning, deceitful, deceptive, delusive, designing, dishonest, dishonorable, double-dealing, elusive, foxy, furtive, illusory, impish, ingenious, insidious, intriguing, mean, mischievous, roguish, scheming, secret, sharp, shifty, shrewd, slick, smart, smooth, stealthy, subtle, traitorous, treacherous, tricky, underhand, unscrupulous, wily, bluffing, conniving, dissembling, guileful, plotting, sneaking |
| Antonyms: | honest, open, simple, straight, straightforward, unclever |
| Main Entry: | underhand |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | deceitful |
| Synonyms: | clandestine, concealed, crafty, crooked, cunning, deceptive, devious, dishonest, dishonorable, duplicitous, fraudulent, furtive, hush-hush*, indirect, insidious, oblique, secret, secretive, shady, shifty, slippery*, sly*, sneaky, stealthy, surreptitious, treacherous, tricky, two-faced*, two-timing, under wraps*, undercover, underhanded, unethical, unfair, unjust, unscrupulous, wily, dirty-dealing, double-crossing, guileful, on the QT, on the quiet, sneaking, sub-rosa |
| Antonyms: | aboveboard, forthright, frank, honest |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | wily |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | crafty, clever |
| Synonyms: | arch, artful, astute, cagey, crooked, cunning, deceitful, deceptive, deep, designing, foxy, greasy*, insidious, intriguing, knowing, sagacious, scheming, sharp, shifty, shrewd, slick*, slippery*, sly, smooth, sneaky, tricky, underhanded, crazy like a fox, guileful, streetwise |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | cunning |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | devious |
| Synonyms: | Machiavellian, acute, artful, astute, cagey, canny, crafty, deep, foxy, insidious, keen, knowing, sharp, shifty, shrewd, slick, slippery, sly, smart, smarts, smooth, street-smart, subtle, tricky, wary, wily, crazy like fox, fancy footwork, guileful, sly boots, streetwise |
| Antonyms: | gullible, kind, naive, shy |
| Main Entry: | devious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | dishonest, crafty |
| Synonyms: | artful, calculating, crooked, deceitful, double-dealing, duplicitous, errant, erring, evasive, fishy*, foxy*, fraudulent, indirect, insidious, insincere, oblique, put on, roundabout, scheming, shady, shifty, shrewd, sly, sneaky, surreptitious, treacherous, tricky, underhanded, wily, faking one out, guileful, not straightforward, obliquitous, playing games, playing politics, sneaking |
| Antonyms: | artless, frank, honest, open, straightforward, trustworthy, truthful |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | treacherous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | dishonest, disloyal |
| Synonyms: | catchy, deceitful, deceptive, double-dealing*, duplicitous, faithless, false, fly-by-night*, insidious, misleading, perfidious, recreant, shifty*, slick*, slippery*, snake in the grass, traitorous, tricky, two-faced*, two-timing, undependable, unfaithful, unreliable, untrue, untrustworthy, betraying, double-crossing, false-hearted, treasonable, unloyal |
| Antonyms: | forthright, honest, loyal, true |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | snaky |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | devious, sly |
| Synonyms: | crafty, insidious, lurking, perfidious, sneaky, subtle, treacherous, venomous, virulent, slinking, vipery |
| Antonyms: | forthright, honest, upfront |
| Main Entry: | subtle |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | clever, cunning |
| Synonyms: | analytical, artful, astute, complex, crafty, deep, designing, detailed, devious, dexterous, exacting, foxy, insidious, intriguing, keen, penetrating, perceptive, precise, scheming, shrewd, skillful, sly, wily, analytic, guileful, ratiocinative |
| Antonyms: | forthright, honest, open |
| Main Entry: | tricky |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | deceptive, sly |
| Synonyms: | artful, astute, cagey, catchy, clever, crafty, cunning, deceitful, deep, delusive, devious, dishonest, foxy, greasy*, insidious, intelligent, keen, misleading, scheming, shady, sharp, shifty, shrewd, slick*, slippery*, smooth, subtle, treacherous, wily, wry, delusory, guileful, streetwise, witted |
| Antonyms: | aboveboard, frank, honest |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | deep |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | scheming, devious |
| Synonyms: | acute, artful, astute, canny, crafty, cunning, designing, foxy, insidious, intriguing, keen, knowing, sharp, shrewd, sly, tricky, wily, contriving, guileful, plotting |
| Antonyms: | aboveboard, artless, open |
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2009 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
