| 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, ensnaring, false, foxy, guileful, intriguing, like a snake in the grass, perfidious, perilous, secret, slick, sly, smooth, snaky, sneaking, stealthy, subtle, surreptitious, treacherous, wily, wormlike |
| 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 |
| Main Entry: | crafty |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | clever, scheming |
Synonyms: |
adroit, artful, astute, cagey, calculating, canny, crazy like fox, cunning, deceitful, deep, designing, devious, disingenuous, duplicitous, foxy*, fraudulent, guileful, insidious, intelligent, keen, knowing, sharp, shrewd, slick, slippery*, sly, smart, smooth, street smart, streetwise, subtle, tricky, vulpine, wily |
Antonyms: |
honest, naive, unclever |
| Main Entry: | cunning |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | devious |
Synonyms: |
Machiavellian, acute, artful, astute, cagey, canny, crafty, crazy like fox, deep, fancy footwork, foxy, guileful, insidious, keen, knowing, sharp, shifty, shrewd, slick, slippery, sly, sly boots, smart, smarts, smooth, street-smart, streetwise, subtle, tricky, wary, wily |
Antonyms: |
gullible, kind, naive, shy |
| Main Entry: | deceitful |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | dishonest, insincere |
Synonyms: |
artful, astucious, astute, beguiling, clandestine, counterfeit, crafty, cunning, deceiving, deceptive, delusive, delusory, designing, disingenuous, double-dealing, duplicitous, fallacious, false, feline, foxy, fraudulent, furtive, guileful, hypocritical, illusory, impostrous, indirect, insidious, knavish, lying, mendacious, misleading, rascal, roguish, shifty, slick, sly, sneaky, stealthy, subtle, treacherous, tricky, two-faced, underhand, underhanded, untrustworthy, untruthful, wily |
| Notes: | deceitful means intended to deceive or cheat while deceptive means causing one to believe what is not true or likely to mislead someone |
Antonyms: |
faithful, frank, honest, loyal, open, sincere, trustworthy, truthful, upright |
| Main Entry: | deceptive |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | dishonest |
Synonyms: |
ambiguous, astucious, beguiling, bum*, catchy, crafty, cunning, deceitful, deceiving, deluding, delusive, delusory, designing, disingenuous, fake, fallacious, false, fishy, foxy, fraudulent, illusory, imposturous, 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 |
Antonyms: |
forthright, frank, honest, open, truthful, upright |
| Main Entry: | deep |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | scheming, devious |
Synonyms: |
acute, artful, astute, canny, contriving, crafty, cunning, designing, foxy, guileful, insidious, intriguing, keen, knowing, plotting, sharp, shrewd, sly, tricky, wily |
Antonyms: |
aboveboard, artless, open |
| Main Entry: | devious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | dishonest, crafty |
Synonyms: |
artful, calculating, crooked, deceitful, double-dealing, duplicitous, errant, erring, evasive, faking one out, fishy, foxy*, fraudulent, guileful, indirect, insidious, insincere, not straightforward, oblique, obliquitous, playing games, playing politics, put on, roundabout, scheming, shady, shifty, shrewd, sly, sneaking, sneaky, surreptitious, treacherous, tricky, underhanded, wily |
Antonyms: |
artless, frank, honest, open, straightforward, trustworthy, truthful |
| Main Entry: | disingenuous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | insincere |
Synonyms: |
artful, crooked, cunning, deceitful, designing, dishonest, duplicitous, false, feigned, foxy, guileful, indirect, insidious, mendacious, oblique, shifty, sly, tricky, two-faced, uncandid, underhanded, unfair, unfrank, wily |
Antonyms: |
frank, honest, ingenuous, naive, sincere |
| Main Entry: | foxy |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | shrewd |
Synonyms: |
artful, astute, canny, crafty, cunning, deceitful, deep, devious, dishonest, experienced, guileful, insidious, intelligent, knowing, retiary, sharp, slick, sly, subtle, tricky, vulpine, wily |
Antonyms: |
naive, unclever, unintelligent, unsmart |
| Main Entry: | furtive |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | sneaky, secretive |
Synonyms: |
artful, calculating, cautious, circumspect, clandestine, cloaked, conspiratorial, covert, crafty*, creepy*, cunning, disguised, elusive, evasive, foxy, guileful, hidden, hush-hush, insidious, masked, scheming, shifty, skulking, slinking, sly, stealthy, sub-rosa, surreptitious, tricky*, under wraps, under-the-table, undercover, underhand, underhanded, wily |
Antonyms: |
aboveboard, forthright, honest, open, truthful |