insidious
49
8.4
- adjective
- /ɪnˈsɪd.i.əs/
- Formal
:
insidioso
- The insidious effects of pollution on our health are often overlooked until it's too late.
- insidious effects
- an insidious onset
- an insidious threat
And I think they're just insidious cancers on this country.
- And I think they're just insidious cancers on this country.
- So it's, it's, it's devastating, it's insidious, it's hard to detect early.
- But I didn't realize that an insidious little belief was in my head.
- And, you know, this was a insidious, horribly destructive cult.
- So that's a sign of of gradual or insidious civilizational decay.
- Really it's, it's an interesting kind of insidious invisible taxation.
- And that was a very dark, sort of insidious phase that I went through.
- The reason excuses are insidious is because they're so fucking valid.
- Sometimes it's really subtle, insidious harm that kind of creeps up on us.
- This is not an insidious, deliberate thing.
- It is it's a insidious health problem that's poisoning our kids.
- And so it's a very, very clever and insidious system.
- A second insidious problem is laziness.
- Baiting is one of the most nefarious and insidious dynamics of the narcissistic relationship.
- Well, I think for sure that China sees this as a very insidious way to undermine America.
- And you know, some of those drug dealers are so insidious.
- And it's like, so the other one that's become more insidious because of its ability to pacify people.
- We're not aware of how those emotions are infecting our plans in a very insidious fashion.
- It's a more insidious and less rewarding.
- And I think that is the most insidious and the most dangerous part.
Examples
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Our enemy is an insidious one, seeking to divide us and destroy the very foundation of our great nation.
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So here's a very insidious kind of problem.
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And I think that is the most insidious and the most dangerous part.
-
And that was a very dark, sort of insidious phase that I went through.
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It's this kind of insidious hidden tax.
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I think that is a really dangerous, insidious form of racism.
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Find a cure, not only for her sake, but for the next time this insidious disease appears.
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And I think, I think what's scary is how insidious a problem advertising has become.
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We both agreed that taxes were an insidious form of government coercion.
Fiction book (1996) -
Sometimes it's really subtle, insidious harm that kind of creeps up on us.
Synonyms
23
8.2
Harmful in a slow and hidden way
Antonyms
How Harmful
- Formal
23
8.2
- Formal
49
8.4
161
2.6
133
5.6
231
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
insidious = insidi + ous
Although the word superficially looks like a combination involving the prefix 'in-' and the suffix '-ous', the stem is not a recognizable modern English base and the meaning ('gradually harmful, treacherous') is not derivable by standard productive rules, so learners cannot reliably infer the meaning from apparent parts.
Etymology
Insidious comes from the Latin word insidiae 'ambush' and from insidere, made of in- 'in' and sid- 'sit', giving the picture of someone hiding and waiting. So something insidious works quietly and slowly, like a hidden enemy that sits inside before it causes harm.