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snake

snake

139 8.1
A person who lies to others and cannot be trusted
  • noun
  • /sneɪk/
  • Offensive
: serpiente
  • People are calling you a bad friend, a snake, a liar.
  • snake oil
  • snake-oil salesman

You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in.

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Examples

  • Everyone knew he was a snake, always scheming behind their backs.

  • Who called you the biggest snake in the house?

  • Not much of a snake charmer, are you?

  • Blank is a snake and a master manipulator.

  • And that moment when I read it was the first time I had a thought what a snake was my first thought like what a liar.

  • - He may seem charming... - ...but he's about as charming... ...as a snake.

  • Bunch of lying snakes.

  • She revealed his character as a snake who could not be trusted.

  • In the office, he was called a snake for spreading rumors about his colleagues.

Synonyms

weasel
vssnake
  • Offensive
79 7.9

A person who is sneaky and dishonest, often trying to trick others

is a more directly deceitful and treacherous character than that
snake in the grass
vssnake
  • Offensive
6 8.1

A person who pretends to be friendly but secretly harms or tricks you

is openly deceitful rather than pretending friendship
son of a snake
vssnake
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A person who lies or cheats and cannot be trusted

is a neutral description of deceitful behaviour, not an insult

Antonyms

∞ 1.0

Truthful and fair, not cheating or lying

87 2.1

A person or thing you can depend on to be honest

Idioms

snake in the grass
  • Offensive
6 8.1

A person who pretends to be friendly but secretly harms or tricks you

son of a snake
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A person who lies or cheats and cannot be trusted

mad as a cut snake
  • Australian
1 9.9

Feeling extremely angry and acting wildly

To have very bad luck at an important time

Compounds

snake oil
  • Informal
19 8.0

A thing presented as helpful that does not work and tricks people

snake pit
  • Informal
7 7.3

An unpleasant, chaotic place where people act badly toward each other

6 4.3

A poisonous fluid that some snakes inject when they bite to stop or kill other animals

A person who uses music or movement to make snakes move for people

snake oil salesman
  • Offensive
5 8.0

A person who tricks people by offering fake medicines or useless products

4 3.0

A large river in the northwest United States that flows from Wyoming to the Columbia River

3 3.8

A common North and Central American snake that is not venomous and has long stripes

sea snake
  • Specialized
3 6.4

A long sea animal with no legs, a flat tail, and a poisonous bite that eats fish

3 3.5

A snake that usually is not dangerous and lives near water

2 7.2

A small venomous snake with red, yellow, and black bands that has a deadly bite

2 5.8

A North American snake that does not have venom and often eats other snakes and small animals

1 5.3

A snake that is not poisonous and eats rats and mice

snake eyes
  • Informal
1 7.5

A roll of two ones with two dice that people see as very unlucky

1 6.0

A gentle reddish-orange snake from the southeastern United States often found on farms and kept as a pet

1 4.6

People moving forward in a long winding line at a celebration

1 3.7

A small green North American snake that eats insects

1 5.2

A long flexible metal tool for clearing clogs in pipes

A harmless North American snake that has stripes and often lives in gardens

1 9.5

A god linked to snakes and worshipped in parts of the Caribbean

1 8.6

A small snake that lives in sandy places and hides under loose sand

glass snake
  • Specialized
1 9.4

A legless lizard with a long tail that breaks off and regrows to escape predators

1 7.0

A large North American snake that is not venomous and lives in burrows eating rodents

1 2.7

A small harmless green or striped snake often found in grass

1 6.9

A large North American snake that eats rodents, lives in burrows, and is not venomous

A small harmless woodland snake with a red belly

tiger snake
  • Australian
1 8.3

A venomous snake with brown and yellow bands found in Australia and Tasmania

1 9.5

A long thin snake with a tail like a braided whip that moves quickly

spitting snake
  • South African
1 8.4

A venomous southern African snake that sprays venom at a threat, often to hit the eyes

elapid snake
  • Specialized
1 8.5

A snake like a cobra or mamba that has venom and uses fixed fangs to put it into other animals

1 5.3

A large shiny black snake from North America that is not venomous and eats rats and mice

1 7.9

A harmless North American snake with an upturned nose that spreads its head and plays dead when scared

1 5.1

A harmless North American snake with red, black, and white bands that looks like a coral snake

1 4.2

A harmless European snake with a yellow collar

1 3.9

A houseplant with long, stiff leaves that grow upright

1 7.1

A thin tree snake that looks like a vine

1 7.7

A venomous snake with a copper-colored head and dark cross bands

1 7.4

A large dark blue nonvenomous snake in southern North America and Mexico that often enters burrows

eastern coral snake
  • Specialized
1 8.4

A venomous banded snake from the southeastern United States and parts of Central America

1 7.1

A small fast snake with a long thin body and tail

1 6.5

A thin North American snake with a yellow stripe often near water

1 7.2

A small snake that is not poisonous with a yellow or orange ring around its neck

rough green snake
  • Specialized
1 8.4

A thin bright green snake with rough scales that is harmless and lives in the southern and eastern United States

1 7.7

A small thin snake that looks like a worm and lives under stones or logs

1 9.9

A long, thin insect with bright, shiny wings that eats mosquitoes

1 7.2

A low wooden rail barrier that forms a zigzag pattern to mark or enclose land

1 7.5

A low wooden fence made of rails in a zigzag that marks a border

1 9.0

A small fast snake with a long thin tail

1 7.4

A large harmless North American snake that eats birds and eggs

A snake that is not venomous and lives near fresh water in the western United States

1 8.8

A small snake that looks like a worm and lives underground

hoop snake
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A snake from old stories that holds its tail in its mouth and rolls like a hoop

house snake
  • South African
1 7.5

A snake that is not poisonous, often tan or brown, that lives near houses and eats mice

rock snake
  • South African
1 7.6

A very large snake from Africa that can grow over six meters long

1 8.2

A tropical fish with a long head and a big mouth

A harmless snake with dark bands that lives near rivers and lakes in the western United States

1 7.4

A large snake that does not have venom and lives in pine woods in the eastern United States

A small ground snake with a black head that hides under rocks or leaves

1 9.1

A pale blotched desert snake with a short blunt nose from southwestern North America that is not dangerous to people

1 9.9

A mildly venomous snake with a V-shaped mark on its head that lives in rocky areas

1 8.5

A small shy snake with bright rings that hides under rocks in dry western North America

1 8.2

A small snake that is active at night in the western United States and Mexico

1 9.1

A tropical plant with long, curved leaves that grows in warm, wet places

A long thin fish that lives in deep warm seas and eats other fish

A snake with venom and red, yellow, black bands that lives in southwest US and Central America

carpet snake
  • Australian
8.0

A large Australian snake with patterned skin that often lives near farms

colubrid snake
  • Specialized
8.5

A mostly non-venomous snake that lives on land, in trees, or near water

9.9

A long thin water animal like an eel with tiny legs that lives in muddy pools in the southern US

A small reddish-grey snake in eastern North America that burrows under leaves and soil

A large nonvenomous snake with shiny blue-black skin that lives in the southeastern United States

African coral snake
  • South African
8.9

A small snake that lives in trees in southern Africa with black and orange bands

8.9

A venomous snake with bright red, yellow, and black bands that lives in Asia

A small snake with dark and light rings that moves through sand in the southwestern United States

7.7

A small venomous Australian snake with bright red, black and white rings that is usually harmless to people

How Treacherous

traitor
  • Offensive
320 3.9
betrayer
26 6.3
snake
  • Offensive
139 8.1
liar
  • Offensive
772 1.0
sneak
  • Offensive
14 6.1

Surface Forms

snake singular
snakes plural

Etymology

Snake meaning a deceitful person comes from old stories that show snakes as sly and dangerous, for example the Bible serpent. So calling someone a 'snake' says they are treacherous and not to be trusted.